Clinton's visit a sign of better ties

The tense situation on the Korean Peninsula and the halting relations between the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) and the US appear to have softened with Bill Clinton's Tuesday visit to Pyongyang to secure the release of two detained US women journalists.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee, two reporters for Current TV, which was founded by former US vice-president Al Gore, were arrested by DPRK soldiers on March 17 for illegally crossing into the country's territory. Both were sentenced to 12 years of "hard labor" on charges of "hostility toward the Korean nation" and "illegal entry".

Despite Clinton's announcement that he was purely on a private humanitarian mission, there has been speculation that Clinton was also entrusted with exchanging viewpoints with DPRK leader Kim Jong-il on the extremely strained US-DPRK ties and the nuclear crisis on the Peninsula.