BURBANK , California -LRB- CNN -RRB- -- Laura Ling on Wednesday expressed the shock she and Euna Lee felt when former President Clinton showed up in Pyongyang , North Korea , to help secure the two journalists ' release . The families of Euna Lee , left , and Laura Ling greet them Wednesday in California . `` We feared at any moment that we could be sent to a hard labor camp , and then suddenly we were told we were going to a meeting , '' a tearful and emotional Ling said at a news conference Wednesday morning in California shortly after arriving by plane with Lee and Clinton . She spoke minutes after the two women were reunited with their families at Bob Hope Airport in Burbank outside Los Angeles . They had been detained in North Korea since March . North Korea pardoned Ling , 32 , and Lee , 36 , after Clinton 's brief trip Tuesday to Pyongyang . `` We were taken to a location , and when we walked through the doors , we saw standing before us President Bill Clinton , '' Ling said , with Lee standing beside her . Watch the emotional return at the airport '' `` We were shocked , but we knew instantly in our hearts that the nightmare of our lives was finally coming to an end . '' She expressed her and Lee 's `` deepest gratitude '' to Clinton and his `` wonderful , amazing '' team . Watch as Ling says , `` We could feel your love '' '' `` The past 140 days have been the most difficult , heart-wrenching time of our lives , '' Ling said . `` We are very grateful that we were granted amnesty by the government of North Korea , and we are so happy to be home . '' She said that she and Lee are looking forward to spending `` some quiet , private time '' with their families . iReport.com : Share reaction to the freed journalists Former Vice President Al Gore also spoke to the throngs of journalists at the news conference . He expressed his gratitude to Clinton and President Obama and his administration who `` have been deeply involved in this humanitarian effort . '' Watch Gore pay tribute to the people involved in the effort '' Lee and Ling are employed by Gore 's California-based media company , Current TV . The women were arrested in March while reporting from the border between North Korea and China . In June , they were sentenced to 12 years of hard labor on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign . On Wednesday morning , Lee bowed as she walked down the steps of the plane into a private hangar , and Ling raised her fists into the air . The women hugged their families , who were waiting at the bottom of the stairs . Lee 's 4-year-old daughter , Hana , clung tightly to her tearful mother . Watch as the women reunite with their families '' Clinton walked off the plane minutes later but did not address the crowd . `` I am very happy that after this long ordeal , Laura Ling and Euna Lee are now home and reunited with their loved ones , '' Clinton said in a statement . `` When their families , Vice President Gore and the White House asked that I undertake this humanitarian mission , I agreed . I share a deep sense of relief with Laura and Euna and their families that they are safely home . '' Journalist Lisa Ling said she never gave up hope that she would see her sister again . `` We always maintained our hope and knew in our hearts that we would see Laura again ; we just did n't know when , '' Lisa Ling said outside her home in Los Angeles , California . `` We are just thrilled beyond words that the day has finally arrived . '' She said her sister was looking forward to eating fresh fruit and food for the first time in four months , after many meals of rice that often contained rocks . `` I can tell she has gone through a lot , '' Ling said . `` My sister has an amazing , amazing spirit , and she 's a little bit weak right now , so I think it 's going take a little time for her to gather up her wits and be able to talk about what she experienced . '' At the White House , Obama applauded the release of the two journalists , saying , `` We are very pleased with the outcome . '' Their release is a `` source of happiness not only for the families but for the entire country , '' he said . Watch as Obama says , `` We are relieved '' '' Obama also thanked the former president and Gore for their roles in winning the women 's release . `` I think that not only is this White House ... extraordinarily happy , but all Americans should be grateful to both former President Clinton and Vice President Gore for their extraordinary work , '' he said . Clinton made the trip to North Korea after the women 's families asked him to travel there , a senior administration official said . Doug Ling , Ling 's father , earlier reacted to the news of his daughter 's release outside his home in Carmichael , California , saying it was `` one of the best days in my life . '' `` I figured , sooner or later , they 'd be back , '' he said . U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton also expressed her relief that the two women were released . She spoke from Nairobi , Kenya , where she is taking part in a multination visit to Africa . `` I spoke to my husband on the airplane , and everything went well , '' she said . `` It is just a good day to be able to see this happen . '' In July , Ling and Lee spoke to their families and told them that the North Koreans were willing to grant them amnesty if a high-level envoy , such as former President Clinton , were willing to travel to Pyongyang , the administration official said on condition of anonymity . North Korea said Clinton `` expressed words of sincere apology to Kim Jong Il '' for the journalists ' actions , but the administration official said he knew nothing about an apology . He said Clinton met for three hours and 15 minutes with the North Korean leader but said he did not know what issues were discussed . But he said Clinton 's views on a verifiable denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula are well-known . North Korea 's state-run Korea Central News Agency said Clinton conveyed a message from Obama `` expressing profound thanks for this and reflecting views on ways of improving the relations between the two countries . '' But White House spokesman Robert Gibbs said before the announced agreement that Clinton was not carrying any message from Obama . Gibbs added the former president last spoke with Obama during a White House visit in March . He described Clinton 's trip as a `` solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans . '' Clinton 's mission came as the United States and its allies in the region are seeking to persuade North Korea to return to the stalled nuclear disarmament talks . North Korea conducted its second nuclear bomb test in May and has held several missile tests since then . The United Nations has responded by increasing sanctions on the nation . North Korea and the United States had no regular contacts before a 1994 crisis over Pyongyang 's nuclear program . North Korea agreed then to halt the development of nuclear weapons but abandoned that accord and withdrew from the Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty in 2003 . Clinton had considered visiting North Korea in 2000 , near the end of his second term as president . His secretary of state , Madeleine Albright , had gone to Pyongyang in 2000 to meet with Kim . She was the last high-ranking American official to do so before this week . CNN 's Elaine Quijano , Charlie Moore and Ninette Sosa contributed to this report .