(2nd LD) Obama thanks Clinton for bringing back journalists detained in N. Korea

(ATTN: ADDS Ban Ki-moon's remarks in paras 7-8)
By Hwang Doo-hyong
WASHINGTON, Aug. 5 (Yonhap) -- U.S. President Barack Obama Wednesday welcomed the
return of two American journalists held in North Korea since March for illegally
crossing the Chinese border, and thanked former President Bill Clinton for
bringing them back.
"We are obviously extraordinarily relieved," Obama said soon after Laura Ling and
Euna Lee of the San Francisco-based Internet outlet Current TV arrived in Los
Angeles on the chartered flight that brought Clinton back from Pyongyang.
"I want to thank President Bill Clinton -- I had a chance to talk to him -- for
the extraordinary humanitarian effort that resulted in the release of the two
journalists," Obama said in a brief White House statement that did not mention
North Korea. "The reunion that we've all seen on television I think is a source
of happiness not only for the families, but for the entire country."
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued a pardon to the journalists just hours
after a meeting with Clinton in Pyongyang later Tuesday.
The journalists were arrested in March near the China-North Korea border while
reporting on refugees fleeing the isolated state. They were sentenced in June to
12 years in a labor camp for an unspecified "grave crime" and illegally crossing
the border.
In New York, U.N. Secretary General Ban Ki-moon "welcomed" their release,
"congratulated former President Clinton for his successful humanitarian mission,"
and said he "appreciated the decision of the DPRK to release them on humanitarian
considerations, responding to the repeated calls by the international community."
DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official
name.
The U.N. chief reiterated in a statement his "hope that dialogue will resume at
the earliest possible time between the DPRK and the parties concerned towards
resolving outstanding concerns, including the nuclear issue."
Upon arriving at an airport in Los Angeles, Ling thanked the North Korean leader
for her release.
"We are very grateful that we were granted amnesty by the government of North
Korea, and we are so happy to be home," Ling said.
She also thanked Obama, Clinton, former Vice President Al Gore, who is the
founder of the Current TV, and "our loved ones, friends and colleagues, and to
the complete strangers with the kindest of hearts who have shown us so much love
and sent us so many positive thoughts and energy."
Ling described "the past 140 days" in North Korea as "the most difficult,
heart-wrenching times of our lives" and recalled her surprise at her sudden
release.
"We feared that at any moment we could be sent to a hard-labor camp," she said.
"And then suddenly we were told that we were going to a meeting. We were taken to
a location. And when we walked in through the doors, we saw, standing before us,
President Bill Clinton. We were shocked. But we knew instantly in our hearts that
the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end. And now we stand here,
home and free."
hdh@yna.co.kr
(END)