Bill Clinton meets with North Korean leader
17:49 04/08/2009 MOSCOW, August 4 (RIA Novosti) - Former U.S. President Bill Clinton met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il in Pyongyang on Tuesday, and conveyed a verbal message from President Barack Obama, the North's official media said.
Clinton arrived in the reclusive communist state earlier in the day on a surprise visit aimed at negotiating the release of two American journalists arrested on the Chinese border in March. He was shown on international TV stepping out of an unmarked plane, being greeted by officials on the runway, and recieving a bouquet from a young girl.
The White House has denied that Clinton passed on a message from Obama.
Radio Pyongyang and the Korean Central Broadcasting Station said Clinton and Kim exchanged "a broad range of opinions" in their talks, according to South Korea's Yonhap agency.
Although Clinton's visit is non-official, analysts say the talks may have important implications for the main disputes between North Korea and the United States, including over Pyongyang's nuclear program.
U.S. reporters Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced in June to 12 years' hard labor for illegally crossing the border from China in March while working on a story for San Francisco-based Current TV.
Secretary of State Hillary Clinton earlier said the arrests are being treated as a separate issue to the standoff over North Korea's May 25 nuclear test.
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