The White House is denying North Korean media reports that former U.S. President Bill Clinton conveyed a message on behalf of U.S. President Barack Obama to North Korea during a visit Clinton made to Pyongyang.

Clinton arrived in the North Korean capital Tuesday morning on an unannounced mission to negotiate the release of two imprisoned Americans, Euna Lee and Laura Ling, reporters for former U.S. Vice President Al Gore's Current TV media outlet.

Reporting on Clinton's meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-il, North Korea’s state-run Korean Central Broadcasting Station and Pyongyang Broadcasting Station said that the two exchanged opinions on issues pending between the two countries and that the former U.S. president delivered Obama's message of gratitude to Kim for granting pardons to the journalists.

However, White House Press Secretary Robert Gibbs told a news briefing that the North Korean reports were not true.