ABC News reports that Bill Clinton will arrive back in the U.S. in hours with Current TV reporters Euna Lee and Laura Ling, who were released by North Korea after Clinton’s surprise visit to the country helped negotiate their pardon.

Lee and Ling’s families said in a joint statement that they were “overjoyed by the news of their pardon.”

“We are so grateful to our government: President Obama, Secretary Clinton and the U.S. State Department for their dedication to and hard work on behalf of American citizens,” the statement said. “We especially want to thank President Clinton for taking on such an arduous mission and Vice President Al Gore for his tireless efforts to bring Laura and Euna home.”

Gore is the co-founder of Current TV, the San Francisco-based employer of the two reporters.

Above, Laura Ling, far left, and Euna Lee, second right, head to a chartered plane bound for Los Angeles at an airport in Pyongyang. Photo by Xinhua via AP.