Bill Clinton meets North Korean leader

Former US President Bill Clinton has reportedly met with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Il during his visit to Pyongyang as he delivers Washington’s message.

South Korean news agency Yonhap reported that Clinton had delivered a verbal message from President Barack Obama to Kim in a meeting on Tuesday.

Clinton has traveled to Pyongyang on an unannounced visit to the country to negotiate the release of two jailed American journalists.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in June after being found guilty of illegally entering North Korean territory in March.

The US and North Korea are also involved in a heated dispute over the communist regime’s nuclear weapons program.

The Obama administration, however, has refused to link the journalists’ case pursued by Clinton with the nuclear standoff between the two countries.

Meanwhile, White House spokesman Robert Gibbs denied that Clinton carried a message from Obama for Kim.

Clinton is the highest-ranking US official to visit North Korea since 2000.