Freed Americans arrive in Washington state

Two Americans freed from secretive North Korea returned home on Saturday after the surprise involvement of the top-ranking U.S. intelligence official who traveled to Pyongyang to secure their release.

Kenneth Bae and Matthew Todd Miller, who had been doing hard labor for months in North Korea, were accompanied on their journey home by Director of National Intelligence James Clapper, his office said. Their release comes less than three weeks after another American was freed by Pyongyang.

A Boeing C-40 Clipper airplane carrying the two freed Americans landed at about 9 p.m. Pacific Standard Time (0500 GMT) at Joint Base Lewis-McChord near Tacoma, Washington state. Both men hugged family members who met them on the tarmac.

Bae, a missionary from Washington state, was arrested in North Korea in November 2012 and sentenced to 15 years hard labor for crimes against the state. Miller, who reportedly was tried on an espionage charge, had been in custody since April this year