Time created a slideshow of pictures of “Bill Clinton’s North Korea Rescue Mission,” documenting Clinton’s trip to North Korea and his return to the US with incarcerated journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, who were arrested on March 17 near the Chinese border of North Korea. The slideshow features some touching photographs of Ling and Lee as they were reunited with their families, and opens a window of insight to this historic journey.

The two Americans were originally sentenced to 12 years of hard labor, but a “special Pardon from Kim Jong Il freed the journalists to return home with Clinton. This trip had been in the works for months.The imprisoned journalists were apparently told they would be released if Bill Clinton visited North Korea, and the relayed this information to their families in calls home. While Clinton’s trip was officially a private humanitarian mission, but US officials researched and approved the journey.

The effort was criticized by former UN ambassador Michael Bolton, who suggested that the visit from Clinton granted the North Korean government legitimacy and lent firepower to their propaganda while giving Iran leverage in determining the release terms for US citizens held there.