2 Americans released from North Korea, U.S. says

U.S. citizens Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller are on their way home after being released from North Korea, the U.S. announced Saturday.

Bae and Miller were the last Americans held by North Korea following the release last month of Jeffrey Fowle.

"It's a wonderful day for them and their families," President Obama said at The White House Saturday following a press conference on his nominee for attorney general.

"Obviously we are very grateful for their safe return," he added, noting the "challenging mission."

Bae's sister, Terri Chung, said in a Facebook post that the family had been waiting and praying for Bae's release for two years.

"Words cannot adequately express our relief and gratitude that Kenneth is finally coming home!" Chung said. "This ordeal has been excruciating for the family, but we are filled with joy right now."

"Our Thanksgiving celebration this year will be one we will never forget," she wrote.

The State Department also welcomed the release of the captives, saying it was grateful for the "tireless efforts" by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper and international partners, including Protecting Power and the Swedish government, according to a statement by State Department spokeswoman Jen Psaki.

Clapper, who traveled to North Korea as a presidential envoy and accompanied Miller and Bae home, is the highest-ranking U.S. official to visit the country. The announcement about Bae and Miller came one day before Obama travels to Asia for a three-country visit, but administration officials said the timing of the release was not related to that trip.

Bae, 46, a Korean-American missionary from Lynnwood, Washington state, was arrested two years ago this month while leading a tour group. He was accused of crimes against the state and sentenced to 15 years of hard labor. Bae was moved to a hospital last summer in poor health.

"It has been a long two years for Kenneth's family, but they never stopped fighting for him, and they never lost faith that this day would come," says U.S. Sen. Patty Murray, D-Wash., whose staff worked closely with Bae's family. "Kenneth's family has spent the last two years doing everything they could to hasten this moment and see their brother, son, father, and husband once again."

Miller, 24, who is from Bakersfield, Calif., was held by North Korea for seven months. He was serving a six-year jail term on charges of espionage, after he allegedly ripped his tourist visa at Pyongyang's airport in April and demanded asylum. North Korea said Miller wanted to experience prison life so that he could secretly investigate the nation's human rights situation.

Fowle, a 56-year-old from Miamisburg, Ohio, who had been held for six months before his Oct. 21 release, called the release of the other two Americans "an answer to a prayer."

U.S. officials did not immediately provide other details about the circumstances of the Americans' release or when they would return home.

The highly unexpected release of the two detainees may signal a renewed attempt by Pyongyang to engage in dialogue with the U.S. Previously, North Korea exploited the detention of U.S. citizens, to try and extract concessions from Washington. However, those citizens typically hadn't been convicted of crimes as Miller and Bae had.

While Miller's case remains unusual since he demanded asylum, Bae, accused of trying to overthrow the government, represented a more significant threat to North Korea, at least in the regime's eye.

Clapper's success in securing the prisoners' release, without any publicly admitted concessions, suggests North Korean authorities are switching tactics.

"The United States will probably not admit to talking with North Korea, especially under these circumstances," Christopher Green, manager of international affairs at Daily NK, told the NK News Saturday.

"We'll likely never be told the content of the dialogue that goes on in Pyongyang, either, unless North Korea reveals it in a fit of pique at a later date," said Green. "But at the end of the day James Clapper is a very serious man, and his presence cannot be overlooked."

Since 2009, North Korea has detained at least seven Americans who were eventually deported or released without serving out their terms. In its statement, the State Department reiterated its recommendation against all travel by U.S. citizens to North Korea.

Contributing: Calum MacLeod in Beijing; The Associated Press