Kim Jong-un releases three Americans ahead of Trump summit

Donald Trump will personally greet the three US hostages released by North Korea when they land on US soil later today.

Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak-song. Picture: AP

UPDATE: Donald Trump will personally greet the three US hostages released by North Korea when they land on US soil later today (AEST).

The triumphant return of the three men comes as the US President said the details for the summit between himself and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un had now been confirmed following the lightening visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

“We’ve picked a time. We’ve picked a place for the meeting, or “summit,” as you like to call it. And I think it’ll be very successful. But as I always say, ‘Who knows?’ Who knows what’s going to happen. But it’s going to be a very important event,” Mr Trump said.

“Both sides want to negotiate a deal. I think it’s going to be a very successful deal. I think we have a really good shot at making it successful. But lots of things can happen.”

I think this is something that nobody thought was going to happen for years or more. And I really believe it’s going to be a great thing for North Korea, a great thing for South Korea and Japan.”

The release of the three men is widely seen as a goodwill gesture by North Korea to improve the atmospherics between the two countries ahead of the leader’s summit in the coming weeks.

Mr Trump said he would announce the date, location and venue of the upcoming summit with Mr Kim in the next few days, but he confirmed it would not be held in the demilitarised zone along the border of the two Koreas.

His upbeat comments came after a surprise visit to North Korea by Mr Pompeo which resulted in the release of three US citizens held by North Korea.

“I appreciate Kim Jong-un doing this and allowing them to go,” Mr Trump said.

North Korea had accused the three Korean-American men — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Has Song and Tony Kim — of acting against the interests of North Korea although their detention was widely seen as politically motivated.

Mr Pompeo, who is accompanying the three men back to the US said it was an “incredibly exciting” moment for the country.

“We have the three Americans on the plane, which is incredibly exciting. They seem to be in good health. The doctors are with them now, but all indications are at this point that their health is as good as could be given that they’ve been held,” he said.

Mr Trump said he would personally meet Mr Pompeo and the three released Americans despite their plane not arriving in Washington until 2am (4pm today AEDT).

The release of the hostages stands in contrast to the release by North Korea of US college student Otto Warmbier in June last year when relations between the US and Pyongyang were at their lowest. Warmbier was released with severe brain damage and died only days after arriving back in the US. His parents are now suing North Korea over the treatment of their son.

Mr Pompeo, who was in North Korea for only 13 hours, said he had a constructive meeting with Mr Kim about the summit.

“We had a chance to talk substantively about what we intend to be on the agenda, and also how we’re going to begin to co-ordinate in the days ahead between now and the summit in a way that we — both sides are confident that we will set the conditions for a successful meeting between the two leaders,” he said.

Cameron Stewart is also US Contributor for Sky News Australia

Kim releases Americans

Three Korean-Americans held by nuclear-armed North Korea have been released, Donald Trump said last night, and were heading home with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

The move came only hours after the US President withdrew Washington from the nuclear deal with Iran struck by his predecessor, Barack Obama.

“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 three wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Mr Trump tweeted.

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. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018

He said he would be on hand when Mr Pompeo’s three “guests” landed at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at 2am today (4pm AEST).

The release of the three — Kim Dong-chul, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Hak-song — had been expected as a goodwill gesture amid preparations for a summit between Mr Trump and the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un.

Mr Trump said Mr Pompeo had a “good meeting” with Kim and a date and place had been final­ised for the summit, a historic encounter called to discuss the denuclearisation of the Korean peninsula. Washington is demanding that North Korea dismantle its nuclear weapons program.

Seoul is also pushing for the release of six South Koreans held by Pyongyang, including three defectors originally from North Korea and three Christian missionaries — — the first of whom was detained in 2013.

Kim Hak-song had been working for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology undertaking agricultural development work with the school’s farm. He was arrested at Pyongyang railway station in May 2017 on suspicion of committing “hostile acts” against the government, as he was boarding a train headed for his home in Dandong, China.

Mr Kim, who is in his mid 50s, was born in Jilin, China, and educated at a university in California, CNN reported, citing a man who had studied with him. He said Mr Kim returned to China after about 10 years of living in the US.

Kim Sang-duk, or Tony Kim, was arrested in April 2017 at the capital’s main airport as he tried to leave the country after teaching for several weeks, also at PUST.

He is a former professor at Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China, close to the Korean border. Its website lists his speciality as accounting.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency has reported he is in his late 50s and said he had been involved in relief activities for children in rural parts of North Korea. It cited a source who described him as a “religiously devoted man”.

In a Facebook post, his son said since his arrest, his family had had no contact with him. His family said his father would soon become a grandfather.

Kim Dong-chul, a South Korea-born American businessman and pastor in his 60s was sentenced to 10 years’ hard labour in April 2016 after being charged with subversion and espionage.

He was arrested in October 2015 after he reportedly received a USB stick containing nuclear-linked data and other military information from a former North Korean soldier.

In an interview with CNN in January 2016, Mr Kim said he was a naturalised American who had lived in Fairfax, Virginia. He said he once ran a trading and hotel services company in Rason, a special economic zone near the North’s border with China and Russia.

A month before his trial, Mr Kim had also appeared at a government-arranged news conference and apologised for attempting to steal military secrets in collusion with South Korea. The South Korean spy agency has denied involvement.

AFP