We learned late tonight that former President Bill Clinton is heading to North Korea to negotiate the freedom of detained American journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee, the AP reports.

The journos were arrested in March and sentenced to 12 years of hard labor in June for illegally entering the country and engaging in “hostile acts.”

On NBC’s “Meet the Press” two weeks ago Secretary Hillary Clinton said the State Department was working on the reporters’ situtation “literally every day.”

>>UPDATE: White House press secretary Robert Gibbs released this statement by email Tuesday morning: “While this solely private mission to secure the release of two Americans is on the ground, we will have no comment. We do not want to jeopardize the success of former President Clinton’s mission.”