Former US President Bill Clinton has left North Korea with two US reporters whose release he has helped to secure.
His spokesman said they were flying to Los Angeles where the journalists would reunite with their families.
North Korean leader Kim Jong-il issued a special pardon to the journalists after meeting Mr Clinton on Tuesday.
Laura Ling and Euna Lee had been found guilty of entering illegally in March. Mr Clinton offered no apology for the reporters' conduct, a US official said.
The senior US administration official, who spoke on condition of anonymity, also said the two reporters were in "very good health" and that North Korean government had agreed in advance that Mr Clinton's mission would not touch on the question of its nuclear programme.
Pyongyang dropped out of six-party talks after the UN censured along-range missile test in April. The parties include Russia, China, Japan, the US and both Koreas.
An underground nuclear test and further missile tests followed, provoking new UN Security Council sanctions.
Mr Clinton's unannounced visit to Pyongyang was described as a private mission.
He was the highest-profile American to visit the reclusive Communist state since ex-Secretary of State Madeleine Albright in 2000.
BBC NEWS | Asia-Pacific | Two freed US reporters head home