A US missionary has been freed by North Korea after he was detained on Christmas day for illegally crossing the border.
Robert Park's release clears an obstacle between North Korea and the United States, its main adversary, as pressure mounts on Pyongyang to end its year-long boycott of international nuclear disarmament-for-aid talks.
As Park arrived in Beijing, a senior Chinese official departed for North Korea and was expected to meet the reclusive state's leader, Kim Jong-il.
Mt Park, 28, walked with his eyes practically closed past shouting reporters at Beijing's airport, saying nothing as he was guided by US embassy officials into a car. He will fly back later on Saturday to the United States, an official with the US embassy in Beijing said.
Mt Park was detained after he walked over the frozen Tumen river from China into North Korea on December 25 on what he said was a mission to raise awareness about Pyongyang's human rights abuses.
The North's official KCNA news agency said Park had confessed to illegally entering the state and that he had changed his mind about North Korea after receiving kind treatment, showing "sincere repentance."
North Korea said in late January that it was holding a second American for illegal entry. The man has not been identified.