The three men emerged from a US government plane with Trump and first lady Melania Trump, flashing peace signs raised high above their heads. A massive American flag, waving in the wind and supported by two fire trucks served as a backdrop against a black sky.
“I want to thank Kim Jong-un,” Trump said. “I think he wants to do something and bring that country into the real world.”
“We didn’t think this was going to happen, and it did. It was very important to all of us,” Trump added, referring to the prisoner release. “The true honour will be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons.
Washington’s top diplomat, Mike Pompeo, flew to Pyongyang in a surprise one-day visit on Wednesday, meeting the North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, and securing the release of the three men.
“It’s like a dream and we are very happy,” Kim Dong-chul, one of the freed men, said speaking through an translator. “We were treated in many different ways, I had to do labour.”
The three were then taken to a nearby military hospital for further examination.
The emancipation of the three US citizens – Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong-chul – was only secured less than an hour before Pompeo was due to depart, the culmination of a whirlwind trip that included a 90-minute meeting with Kim Jong-un. A photo of the two shaking hands was printed on the front page of the Rodong Sinmun , the official newspaper of the ruling Workers’ party.
The Americans were released following a brief legal ceremony and a warning from a North Korean official: “You should make care that they do not make the same mistakes again. This was a hard decision.”
Kim Jong-un “accepted an official suggestion of the US president” to free the three prisoners, according to a report in the official Korean Central News Agency, which also carried the first mention of the planned Trump-Kim summit in North Korean media. Trump has referred to the three men as “hostages” and the US government has described them as political pawns.
Two were arrested roughly a year ago while the third has been in custody since October 2015, with all accused of carrying out anti-North Korea activities. On the flight back to the US they were able to call their families, and the three thanked Trump for their freedom.
“We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home,” the three said, according to a joint statement released by the state department. “We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God bless America, the greatest nation in the world.”
The presence of US national security staff and other diplomats accompanying Pompeo suggested details were being negotiated ahead of a Trump-Kim summit in the hopes of securing some agreement at their meeting, Victor Cha, the Korea chair at the Center for Strategic and International Studies, wrote in a post.
“Given that diplomacy is often about momentum, the next likely step might be North Korea inviting international media to view the shutdown of the nuclear test site,” said Cha, who was once considered for the post of US ambassador to Seoul.
“The release of the three detainees does not absolve the regime of a history of human rights abuses that must be the topic of any discussion going forward on normalising political relations between the US and North Korea.”
The North is also holding six South Koreans and about eight Japanese citizens, with both Seoul and Tokyo pressing for their release.
