Bill Clinton, the former US president, on Wednesday returned to the United States with two American journalists who were released by North Korean leader Kim Jong-il after he granted the pair a “special pardon”.

The release of Laura Ling and Euna Lee came after a surprise visit to the Communist nation from Mr Clinton in the highest-level US contact with Pyongyang since he was president almost 10 years ago. He met Mr Kim on Tuesday on a mission that risks clouding Washington’s policy of isolating Pyongyang over its nuclear and missile programmes.