Three American citizens detained in North Korea have been released, according to a tweet by President Donald Trump.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who went to North Korea to finalize plans for a historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, will be landing at Andrews Air Force base with the three at 2 a.m., Trump tweeted. – READ MORE </s> North Korea frees three US detainees ahead of Trump summit

North Korea has freed three American detainees, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, hailing a diplomatic victory ahead of a planned summit with Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang granted the three men “amnesty,” a US official said, and they are now on their way back to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Two of the men, agricultural expert Kim Hak-song and former professor Tony Kim were arrested in 2017, while Kim Dong-chul, a South Korea-born American businessman and pastor in his 60s, was sentenced to 10 years’ hard labor in 2016.

“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Trump tweeted.

The White House said all three men were able to walk unassisted onto a US Air Force plane that carried them and the secretary of state out of North Korea.

A second plane, with more robust medical equipment, waited for them at Yokota Air Force Base, just outside Tokyo.

“All indications are their health is as good as could be given they been through,” said Pompeo.

The family of Tony Kim voiced their gratitude to “all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home” — and specifically thanking Trump for “engaging directly with North Korea.”

“Mostly, we thank God for Tony’s safe return,” the family said in a statement. “We ask that you continue to pray for the people of North Korea and for the release of all who are still being held.”

Trump meanwhile described the release as “a gesture of good will” and said he would be on hand when Pompeo’s three “guests” land at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at 2:00 am (0600 GMT) Thursday.

Trump acolytes declared the release an unbridled political victory, evidence, Vice President Mike Pence said, that “strong leadership and our America First policies are paying dividends.”

The men’s release appears to pave the way for a much-anticipated summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim, scheduled to take place within weeks.

Summit details to follow

 Trump says a time, date and location have been decided for that historic summit, although US officials say there are still some details to be worked out.

Pompeo told reporters the administration would “in the next handful of days be able to announce date and time.”

Possible locations include Singapore and the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.

The meeting will discuss North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic weapons program, which may soon give Pyongyang the capability of striking the continental United States.

Trump has demanded that North Korea give up its nukes, while Kim has offered few indications about what he is willing to concede or what he will demand in return.

North Korea has often insisted that the United States withdraw support for South Korea, where 30,000-plus US military personnel are stationed.

Since coming to office Trump has embarked on a campaign of “maximum pressure” on the North Korean regime.

A series of provocative North Korean missile tests have been met with US sanctions and a tougher Chinese stance on cross border trade.

Officials in Washington believe the punitive economic measures have prompted fuel shortages in North Korea and increased tension inside the regime.

North Korea official Kim Yong Chul, who met Pompeo in Pyongyang, insisted the country’s openness to talks was “not the result of sanctions that have been imposed from outside,” but a change in regime focus.

“We have perfected our nuclear capability. It is our policy to concentrate all efforts into economic progress in country,” he said.

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This post was syndicated from The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper – Nigeria and World News. Click here to read the full text on the original website. </s> WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the release of three Americans from North Korea (all times local):

President Donald Trump is hailing the release of three Americans detained in North Korea as they make their way back home.

Trump says as he kicks off a Cabinet meeting at the White House that he "appreciates" North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's decision to release the detainees ahead of the leaders' planned summit.

He says he's looking forward to the meeting and believes it's going to be a great thing for North Korea.

Trump broke the news on Twitter earlier Wednesday that the detainees were on their way back to the U.S. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump said he would be greeting them at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 a.m. Thursday.

He says of the arrival: "I think it will be a very special time."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is welcoming North Korea's release of three Americans as a hopeful sign ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.

The Kentucky Republican says he's hopeful that "by approaching our ongoing negotiations with clear eyes, we can build on this progress and pursue a verifiable agreement to dismantle North Korea's nuclear arms."

McConnell spoke Wednesday as he opened the Senate.

Earlier in the day, Trump announced that the three detainees were on their way back to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo was briefly in the country this week making plans for the leaders' upcoming summit.

The White House says President Donald Trump views North Korea's release of three American citizens "as a positive gesture of goodwill."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the three Americans "appear to be in good condition" and says they were "able to walk on the plane without assistance."

Trump announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on his way back from North Korea with the three American detainees.

Sanders says, "All Americans look forward to welcoming them home and to seeing them reunited with their loved ones."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he had a "good, lengthy" conversation with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and that a date and time for a summit with President Donald Trump has been set.

After departing Pyongyang Wednesday, Pompeo said the summit details will be announced "in the next handful of days." He said the two sides need to coordinate in the days ahead on setting conditions for a successful meeting.

Pompeo says the three American detainees freed as a goodwill gesture seem to be in good health "given all they have been through."

Pompeo was on the ground in North Korea for 13 hours. That included a 90-minute meeting with Kim — their second meeting in little more than a month.

Pompeo spoke to reporters during a stop-over in Japan on his way back to the U.S.

Vice President Mike Pence says the U.S. "will not let off the pressure" on North Korea "until we achieve full denuclearization."

Pence says President Donald Trump's "tough minded diplomacy" has led to the release of three Americans detained in North Korea.

Trump announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was returning from North Korea with the three Americans.

Pence says Pompeo did a "remarkable job" overseeing their release and calls it a "proud and memorable moment for America."

A U.S. official says that "substantial progress" has been made on plans for a U.S.-North Korean leadership summit during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang.

While Pompeo met with top North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Un, lower-level officials from the two countries were planning the nuts-and-bolts logistics for a meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump.

The U.S. official, who was involved in those talks, said the two sides would meet once again to finalize the details.

No specifics were offered although other officials said Singapore is emerging as the most likely venue. The unprecedented meeting has been slated for this month or early June.

Before seeing Kim, Pompeo met twice with the head of the North's United Front department that oversees relations between North and South Korea.

The family of one of the Americans freed from North Korea is expressing gratitude for his release.

The family of 59-year-old Tony Kim is thanking "all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home." In a statement, the family credited President Donald Trump for engaging directly with North Korea.

"Mostly, we thank God for Tony's safe return," the statement said. It added that the family appreciates "the support and prayers of friends and even strangers during this challenging year."

The statement was forwarded to The Associated Press by Randall Brandt, a spokesman for the family, shortly after Trump announced Wednesday that three Americans were coming home.

The statement urged people to "continue to pray for the people of North Korea and for the release of all who are still being held."

President Donald Trump says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way back from North Korea with three American detainees, saying they "seem to be in good health."

Trump made the announcement on Twitter Wednesday, saying "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting."

Trump added that Pompeo had a "good meeting" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump is planning a historic summit with the North Korean leader.

In another Tweet, Trump said Pompeo and the detainees will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 a.m. Thursday. He says "I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!"

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in North Korea to finalize plans for a historic summit between President Donald Trump and the North's leader, Kim Jong Un.

U.S. officials say Pompeo will also be pressing North Korea for the release of three detained American citizens, whose imminent release Trump has been hinting at.

The trip is Pompeo's second to North Korea this year. It had not been publicly disclosed when he flew out of Washington under cover of darkness late Monday aboard an Air Force 757.

Trump announced the mission Tuesday afternoon as he laid out the case for withdrawing from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, another bitter U.S. adversary.

When the flight arrived Wednesday morning in Pyongyang, North Korean officials were on hand to greet Pompeo. </s> Three Americans who have been held in North Korea for more than a year have been released and are on their way to the US.

According to The Associated Press, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's plane has left North Korean airspace and had safely landed in Japan.

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way back to the US with three American detainees," President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.

Trump made the announcement on Twitter, noting the former captives – Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk (also known as Tony Kim) and Kim Hak-song – "seem to be in good health."

"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting," the president tweeted, adding that Pompeo had a "good meeting" with North Korea's Kim Jong Un.

Trump said Pompeo and the detainees will be arriving at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 am Thursday.

"I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!" he said.

One of the hostages, Kim Dong Chul, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, had been held the longest. According to The Associated Press, the former Virginia resident was sentenced in April 2016 to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being convicted of espionage. He reportedly ran a trade and hotel service company in Rason, a special economic zone on North Korea's border with Russia.

North Korean officials arrested last year the other two American hostages, who were both teachers in Pyongyang, when they tried to leave the country at different times. The two detainees hadn't been tried.

The relatives of one of the captives, Tony Kim, are expressing gratitude to "all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home."

"Mostly, we thank God for Tony's safe return," they said, adding that the family appreciates "the support and prayers of friends and even strangers during this challenging year."

The news comes as the Trump administration finalizes plans for an historic summit with the North Korean leader.

"For decades, we have been adversaries. Now we are hopeful that we can work together to resolve this conflict," CBS News quoted Pompeo, who added,"There are many challenges along the way."

China's official news agency quoted Kim as saying earlier this week, "I hope to build mutual trust with the US through dialogue."

Kim also said that resolving tensions on the Korean peninsula and denuclearization should move forward in stages, with all sides moving together.

Trump says the time and location of the summit are set. The meeting is expected to happen later this month or in early June. </s> WASHINGTON (Reuters) - U.S. President Donald Trump said on Wednesday that three Americans detained by North Korea have been released and are on their way home with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Trump wrote in a post on Twitter.

Trump said he will greet Pompeo and the Americans when they land at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at 2 a.m. EDT (0600 GMT) Thursday morning. “Very exciting!” he wrote on Twitter.

The fate of Korean-Americans Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul had been among a number of delicate issues in the run-up to the first-ever meeting of U.S. and North Korean leaders.

Trump sent Pompeo to Pyongyang to accompany the men home following U.S. calls for Kim to free them as a gesture of goodwill and sincerity before the U.S.-North Korea meeting, which is expected to take place in late May or early June. </s> (PYONGYANG) — After months of anticipation and drama, North Korea’s release of three American detainees played out amid high-stakes diplomacy and was only sealed about an hour before the top U.S. diplomat was wheels-up from Pyongyang.

The three men — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim — walked on their own from a van and onto the plane of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo at the end of his daylong visit to North Korea.

After meeting leader Kim Jong Un, Pompeo had given a fingers-crossed sign when asked if there was good news. A North Korean emissary came to the hotel shortly after to say the detainees were being freed.

The three men finally left custody at 7:45 p.m. local time, and by 8:42 p.m. they were flying home.

As soon as the plane cleared North Korean airspace, Pompeo called President Donald Trump to inform him of the releases with the men all apparently in good health; then other officials notified their families.

Even before Pompeo’s plane had touched down for a stopover at Yokota Air Base in neighboring Japan, the president announced to the world by Twitter that the “3 wonderful gentlemen” were free.

They are the latest in a series of Americans to be held in North Korea for alleged anti-state activities in recent years, only to be freed during the visit of a high-level U.S. official or statesman. Their releases draw a line under an issue that had weighed on plans for a historic summit between Kim and Trump that will focus on North Korea’s nuclear weapons.

“We’re granting amnesty to the three detained Americans,” the North Korean emissary told Pompeo at Pyongyang’s Koryo Hotel, according to the senior U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the exchange. “We issued the order to grant immediate amnesty to the detainees.”

The North Korean official then advised that the releases would follow a “very brief ceremony” — which he described as more like a legal process. The official closed with a gentle warning for the U.S. to prevent a repeat: “You should make care that they do not make the same mistakes again,” the official said. “This was a hard decision.”

The Trump administration has made clear it regarded the arrests as political motivated, and had been bitterly critical of North Korea’s refusal to grant consular access to the three, other than a brief visit by a U.S. envoy last June. The envoy had repatriated college student Otto Warmbier, who was sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor for stealing a propaganda poster. Warmbier died in June 2017, days after he arrived back in the U.S. with severe brain damage.

Since then, pressure to win the releases of the other three men, whom the administration has referred to as “hostages,” has intensified.

Relatively little is known about the men, all Korean-Americans, and the circumstances in which they ended up in North Korean custody.

Kim Dong Chul, a former Virginia resident who had reportedly run a company on North Korea’s border with Russia, had been sentenced in April 2016 to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being convicted of espionage. Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, who had both taught at a university in Pyongyang that was founded with donations from Christian groups, had been held for about one year and apparently had not been tried.

Tony Kim’s son Sol Kim, a graduate student in California, is the only relative of the detainees to have appealed in public for their freedom. On learning of the release of Tony, who also uses the name Kim Sang-duk, his family expressed gratitude and credited Trump for engaging directly with North Korea.

Washington and Pyongyang have remained in a state of war since the fighting in the 1950-53 Korean War ended and do not have formal diplomatic ties, complicating efforts to handle the cases of American detainees. Typically, Swedish diplomats based in North Korea handle U.S. consular affairs.

Pompeo, the most senior U.S. official to meet with a North Korean leader since 2000, was making his second visit to the isolated nation in five weeks — and less than two weeks after becoming top diplomat. Some in Washington had expressed disappointment that Pompeo’s first trip, made in secret when he was still CIA director, did not win the freedom of the three captives.

Pompeo said Wednesday he was “thrilled” the men were now out.

“Though we’re not quite back home yet, I welcomed them back,” he said, recounting his first words with the men after they were freed. “They were happy to be with us on this plane to be sure,” he said.

The three boarded under their own steam, when most of the U.S. delegation had already boarded the plane. They were seated with medical personnel in a curtained off area of the plane.

After arriving at the stop in Japan, the men transferred to another plane with more medical facilities and were expected to land at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington in the wee hours of Thursday, where Trump planned to greet them. </s> US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to return from North Korea with three American detainees, as well as details of an upcoming summit between leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump, a South Korean official said Wednesday.

Pompeo arrived in Pyongyang, the North Korean capital, on Wednesday from Japan and headed to the city’s Koryo Hotel for meetings, a US media pool report said.

Trump earlier broke the news of Pompeo’s second visit to North Korea in less than six weeks and said the two countries had agreed on a date and location for the summit, though he stopped short of providing details.

An official at South Korea’s presidential Blue House said Pompeo was expected to finalise the date of the summit, and secure the release of three American detainees.

While Trump said it would be a “great thing” if the American detainees were freed, Pompeo, speaking to reporters en route to Pyongyang, said he had not received such a commitment but hoped North Korea would “do the right thing”.

“We’ll talk about it again today,” he said.

“I think it’d be a great gesture if they would choose to do so.”

The three still being held are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong-chul; Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, who spent a month teaching at the foreign-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) before he was arrested in 2017; and Kim Hak-song, who also taught at PUST.

Until now, the only American released by North Korea during Trump’s presidency has been Otto Warmbier, a 22-year-old university student who returned to the United States in a coma last summer after 17 months of captivity and died days later.

Warmbier’s death escalated US-North Korea tensions, already running high at the time over Pyongyang’s stepped-up missile tests.

Six South Koreans are also being held – three Christian missionaries and three defectors originally from the North – with Seoul also pushing for their release.

The groundwork for the potential release of the three remaining American detainees was laid two months ago when North Korea’s foreign minister travelled to Sweden and proposed the idea, CNN reported earlier, citing an unnamed source.

Pompeo’s visit comes a day after Kim Jong-un made his second trip to China in less than two months, meeting President Xi Jinping and discussing the ongoing international talks over North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programmes.

During the visit, announced only after it was over, Kim told Xi he hoped relevant parties would take “phased” and “synchronised” measures to realise denuclearisation and lasting peace on the Korean peninsula, according to Chinese state media.

Separately, Trump and Xi discussed developments on the Korean peninsula and Kim’s visit to China during a phone call on Tuesday morning, the White House said.

Pompeo’s return to North Korea comes in his second week as the administration’s top diplomat. Arrangements were made in great secrecy befitting a former CIA director.

Pompeo has promised to “bring back the swagger” to a US State Department that has been sidelined in some foreign policy debates.

His high-profile visit appears to be a splashy step in that direction.

Pompeo may get an earful from the officials he meets. Pyongyang has been disgruntled over what it called “misleading” assertions from some US officials that North Korea is considering denuclearisation because it fears US military prowess and to alleviate punishing sanctions – a “maximum pressure campaign” laid out by Pompeo’s predecessor, Rex Tillerson, who was fired by Trump in March. </s> Trump Meets 3 Americans Held In North Korea As They Return To U.S.

Updated at 3:30 a.m. ET

Three American men who had been held by North Korea touched U.S. soil once again early Thursday, where they were met by President Trump, who has hailed his diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for winning their freedom.

The trio — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim – all held on charges of espionage, arrived at Andrews Air Force Base just outside of Washington, D.C. at about 2:40 a.m. ET. Their plane taxied to the meeting area, where a giant American flag was suspended over the tarmac.

Shortly after the president and first lady went aboard the plane carrying the freed detainees, they emerged with the president, smiling and waving to cheers and applause from military personnel at the base.

"I want to thank Kim Jong Un," Trump said on the tarmac.

"I'm very honored to have helped the three folks," he said.

Trump said Kim was "nice" for letting the three free before a summit planned between the two leaders, which he said would occur "in a few weeks."

Welcoming the detainees home, he called it "a special night for these three people."

One of the three, who appeared to be Kim Dong Chul, spoke for the group, saying "It's like a dream and we are very, very happy."

Asked how they were treated in North Korea, he responded through an interpreter, "in many, many ways. For me, it was labor, but when I was sick, they treated me."

The three arrived shortly after an official plane carrying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — who negotiated the release — touched down. They met the president and First Lady Melania Trump, who boarded their plane, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence and Pompeo stood at the foot of the stairs.

Earlier, North Korea announced the release. Kim Dong Chul had been jailed since 2015, while the two others were arrested separately in North Korea just over a year ago.

"My proudest part of this will be when we denuclearize North Korea," the president said.

He said of the North Korean leader, "I really think he wants to do something," adding, "I really think a lot of progress has been made."

In a tweet last week, Trump hinting at their impending release, said that "the past Administration has long been asking for three hostages to be released from a North Korean Labor camp, but to no avail. Stay tuned!" Two of the three – Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim — were detained during Trump's presidency.

Exchanging prisoners for an opening with the West has been a common tactic of Pyongyang over the years. However, typically, the détente has been short lived.

Last year, North Korea released American Otto Warmbier, a university student who was detained at the Pyongyang airport in January 2016 while on a five-day tour of North Korea. He was later convicted of stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years hard labor. However, he was released in June 2017, gravely ill and in a coma. He died soon after his return to the United States.

Appearing with the freed Americans on Thursday, Trump said he and Pence had spoken to the family of Warmbier recently.

"I must tell you that I want to pay respects to Otto Warmbier, who was a great man who really suffered," he said.

North Korea also freed U.S. citizens during visits by former Presidents Bill Clinton, in 2009, and Jimmy Carter, in 2010.

In recent months, increased tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs led to a barrage of insults between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the two openly threatened war.

However, Pyongyang suddenly softened its tone, leading to a flurry of diplomacy, rare talks with South Korea last month and a planned Kim-Trump summit.

The president has hailed the thawing in relations as a diplomatic breakthrough and chalked it up to his hardline stand with Pyongyang.

The release of the Americans is seen as a goodwill gesture by North Korea ahead of those talks.

Trump confirmed the Americans' release on Wednesday morning, saying the group was airborne.

Later, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump said the three Americans were "fine people" and seemed to be healthy, adding, "I appreciate Kim Jong Un doing this and allowing them to go."

For Pompeo, his visit to retrieve the trio was his second surprise trip to North Korea in recent weeks, having traveled there to visit the country's leader in early April while he was CIA director — and before his confirmation as secretary of state.

Pompeo met with the North Korean leader for 90 minutes, flashing a fingers-crossed sign to reporters when asked about the detainees' fate, according to The Associated Press. </s> North Korea reportedly hands Trump another big win by releasing US prisoners

North Korea has released three US detainees in the country, according to media reports, and it meets some of President Donald Trump demands for Pyongyang to demonstrate sincerity before the historic meeting between Trump and Kim Jong Un.

Kim Dong-cheol, Kim Sang-deok, and Kim Hak-seong — three US citizens detained in North Korea for years — have been released from a suspected labor camp and given health treatment and ideological education in Pyongyang, according to the Financial Times.

“We heard it through our sources in North Korea late last month. We believe that Mr Trump can take them back on the day of the US-North Korea summit or he can send an envoy to take them back to the US before the summit,” said Choi Sung-ryong, who campaigns for the release of detainees in North Korea.

The news follows Trump’s hawkish National Security Adviser, John Bolton, calling for the release of the detainees. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo reportedly spoke with Kim about the detainees during the pair’s secretive meeting in April. – READ MORE
The three remaining American detainees in North Korea fly with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to the United States.