Bill Clinton visits North Korea

Freed US journalists Laura Ling, left, and Euna Lee, second right, walk to a chartered plane in Pyongyang Photograph: Zhang Binyang/AP

Bill Clinton greets Laura Ling (in green) and Euna Lee (in red) as they board a chartered plane in Pyongyang Photograph: Xinhua/Reuters

Clinton is welcomed with flowers upon his arrival in Pyongyang Photograph: KCNA/Reuters

North Korean leader Kim Jong-il and Clinton pose for a photo Photograph: KCNA/EPA

A rally in Seoul, South Korea, five months ago for Lee and Ling, who were detained in North Korea on the border with China Photograph: Bullit Marquez/AP

2000: North Korean soldiers perform at the May Day stadium in Pyongyang for the visiting US secretary of state Madeleine Albright and North Korean leader Kim Jong-il Photograph: Frederic J. Brown/ AFP/Getty Images

2000: Kim Jong-il and Madeleine Albright - the meeting was his first with a US administration official Photograph: David Guttenfelder/Reuters

2002: George Bush and Dick Cheney during the state of the union speech where Bush named North Korea with Iran and Iraq as the 'axis of evil' Photograph: Win McNamee/Reuters

2005: Gijungdong village, North Korea, in the demilitarised zone that separates the two Koreas Photograph: Chung Sung-Jun/Getty Images AsiaPac

2005: Kim Jong-il inspects 'duck farm number 115' Photograph: KCNA

2005: US secretary of state Condoleezza Rice at a joint news conference with South Korea's foreign minister Ban Ki-moon. Rice sought to coax North Korea back to talks on scrapping its nuclear ambitions Photograph: Kim Kyung-Hoon/Reuters

2006: More than 100,000 people attend a rally to celebrate a successful nuclear test Photograph: KCNA

2005: US negotiator Christopher Hill in Beijing. North Korea and the US pledged to recognise each other's sovereignty and gradually normalise relations, according to a joint statement issued at the end of nuclear talks Photograph: Frederic J Brown/AFP

October 2006: A seismograph chart from Tiksi, Russia, during North Korea's reported nuclear test Photograph: US Geological Survey

June 2008: Foreign TV crews prepare to film the demolition of the Yongbyon nuclear complex cooling tower Photograph: Gao Haorong/Xinhua

January 2009: Missile drill at an undisclosed location Photograph: KCNA/AFP/Getty Images