The two said they worked on the story with the Seoul-based Reverend Chun Ki-won, a well-known activist who has helped hundreds of North Korean defectors start new lives in other countries. He introduced them to their guide, who until the border-crossing incident had seemed 'cautious and responsible - as concerned as we were about protecting our interview subjects and not taking unnecessary risks'.

Ling and Lee now believe the guide may ultimately have set them up as he acted suspiciously prior to their capture. But they took full responsibility and apologized for the incident.

'We didn't spend more than a minute on North Korean soil before turning back, but it is a minute we deeply regret. To this day, we still don't know if we were lured into a trap. But it was ultimately our decision to follow him, and we continue to pay for that decision today with dark memories of our captivity.'

The journalists recounted that they destroyed possibly damaging evidence by swallowing their notes and damaging videotapes. They protected their sources during daily interrogations, while at home their families, friends and colleagues maintained a silence to minimise the political impact of their case.

'We can't adequately express the emotions surrounding our release. One moment, we were preparing to be sent to a labour camp, fearing that we would disappear and never be heard from again; the next we were escorted into a room with president Clinton, who greeted us and told us we were going home,' the two wrote.

'We are grateful to the many journalists who kept our story alive. We are humbled by the tens of thousands of people who supported us, prayed for us and fought for our release.'