Washington, May 9 (EFE).- North Korea has released the three Americans it was holding and they are returning to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump said Wednesday.
“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,” Trump said in a Twitter post.
“They seem to be in good health,” the president said.
Pompeo and his “guests” will be landing at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland early Thursday, Trump said, adding that he would be there “to greet them.”
The three American men were accused of espionage and “activities hostile” to North Korea and were held as prisoners of war.
Kim Dong-chul, 64, Kim Sang-duk, 58, and Kim Hak-song, 60, were all born in South Korea and are US citizens.
Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang to prepare the planned meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un expected to happen in the next few weeks at a place yet to be announced.
In his Twitter post, Trump said Pompeo’s meeting with Kim was “good,” adding that the date and venue for the summit have already been determined.
So far, the White House has said that the meeting between Trump and Kim will be held by late May or early June, and several sites were being considered, including Singapore and the border between the Koreas, which is Trump’s preferred place.
The meeting would be the first between a US president and a North Korean leader in the almost seven decades since the 1950-1953 Korean War and follows more than a quarter century of fruitless negotiations.