SEOUL: Former US president Bill Clinton arrived in North Korea on Tuesday, the state radio station reported from Pyongyang, on an apparent mission to secure the release of two jailed US journalists.

"We're aware that an aircraft from the US landed at Sunan Airport in Pyongyang at around 10:48 am (0148 GMT)," it quoted a Seoul official as saying on condition of anonymity.

South Korean officials could not immediately confirm the report.

The agency and Chosun Ilbo newspaper earlier reported Clinton was en route to the communist state to try to secure the release of two jailed US journalists.

Laura Ling and Euna Lee were arrested in mid-March near the border with China while reporting on refugees fleeing the impoverished North.

A Pyongyang court in June sentenced them to 12 years of "reform through labour" for illegal entry and an unspecified "grave crime."