North Korea says its leader Kim Jong-il has pardoned two American journalists imprisoned by the North.

North Korea’s state-run Korean Central News Agency said Kim made the decision following former U.S. President Bill Clinton’s visit to the communist state on Tuesday and his words of sincere apology for the two journalists' illegal entry into the North.

KCNA said the ex-U.S. president delivered to North Korea the U.S. government's request to release Laura Ling and Euna Lee from a humanitarian standpoint.

Clinton arrived in Pyongyang on Tuesday morning as part of an unannounced mission to negotiate the release of the two imprisoned Americans.

Clinton thanked the North Korean leader for releasing the two journalists and also relayed U.S. President Barack Obama's gratitude for doing so.

KCNA said Clinton then met with Kim and the North’s parliamentary chief, Kim Yong-nam, for discussions on a variety of issues pending between the two countries.

The two journalists are expected to be released Wednesday.

Ling and Lee, reporters for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media outlet, were arrested along the North Korean-Chinese border in March and sentenced in June to 12 years of hard labor for illegal entry and engaging in "hostile acts."