US: Release of journalists a separate issue to DPRK's nuclear programme

US Secretary of State Hillary Clinton told reporters in Nairobi Wednesday, that her husband did not apologize to DPRK leader Kim Jong Il to secure the release of two US journalists.

And she said negotiations for the release of the women was a "separate issue" to the ongoing talks about the DPRK's nuclear programme.

She rejected an official report by the DPRK news agency that said, her husband had delivered an apology from President Barack Obama about the incident.

Hillary Clinton, US Secretary of State, said, "But let me just take a step back here and say that we have been working hard on the release of the two journalists. We have always considered that a totally separate issue from our efforts to re-engage the North Koreans and have them return to the six-party talks and work toward a commitment for the full, verifiable demilitarization of the Korean Peninsula."