Two American journalists freed by the DPRK were reunited with family and friends as they returned to the United States with Bill Clinton.

The former US president's diplomatic trip to the DPRK, secured their release nearly five months after their arrests.

The chartered jet carrying Euna Lee and Laura Ling landed at Burbank's Bob Hope Airport early Wednesday.

Clinton met with DPRK leader Kim Jong-Il on Tuesday during a surprise visit to Pyongyang. The DPRK leader subsequently issued a "special pardon" to the two jailed American journalists.

The two were arrested near the DPRK-Chinese border in March while on a reporting trip, and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor for entering the country illegally.