Trump claims he succeeded where Obama failed in getting North Korea to release US prisoners - even though two were jailed on his watch
American citizens reportedly freed from labour camp as goodwill gesture ahead of president's meeting with Kim Jong-un
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Your support makes all the difference.North Korea is reported to have freed three detained Americans from a labour camp and moved them to a hotel near Pyongyang ahead of a planned meeting between Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump.
The US president appeared to take credit for the trio’s imminent release, which he claimed his predecessor Barack Obama’s administration had “long been asking for... to no avail”.
However, two of the three prisoners were only jailed after Mr Trump’s inauguration last year and amid an escalating feud between the Republican and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The US government has been pressing for the prisoners to be freed as a show of goodwill ahead of the two leaders’ unprecedented summit, planned for late May or early next month.
US officials on Thursday said they had received no confirmation of the detainees’ release, first reported in the South Korean media, but Mr Trump hinted at developments in a tweet.
“As everybody is aware, the past Administration has long been asking for three hostages to be released from a North Korean Labor camp, but to no avail,” he wrote. “Stay tuned!”
Only one of the American citizens, Kim Dong-chul, has been in custody since before the Republican’s election. The two others, Kim Hak-song and Tony Kim, were detained after last spring as tensions between the US and North Korea ramped up.
Last month Mr Trump said his government was working “very diligently to get the three Americans back”.
A South Korean activist with contacts in the Pyongyang said the detainees had been moved to hotel in early April following instructions from authorities.
The US and North Korea “seem to have decided on a date to release these people,” said the activist, Choi Soung-yong. “North Korea probably wants to straighten out their affairs, rehabilitate them.”
The activist added the three were being kept in separate rooms in the same hotel and said he did not know what had happened to them since they were relocated.
“We cannot confirm the validity of these reports,” a US State Department spokeswoman said.
“The welfare and safety of US citizens abroad is one of the highest priorities of the Department of State, she added. “We are working to see US citizens who are detained in North Korea come home as soon as possible.”
Randall Brandt, a spokesman for Tony Kim’s family, said: “While we are encouraged by overall momentum, the family has no indication of a release.”
He said the family had heard nothing of Mr Kim since Joseph Yun, the State Department’s former North Korea negotiator, saw the detainees on a visit to Pyongyang in June.
Tony Kim’s son, Sol Kim, said on social media that he was optimistic but had received no information.
“We are hopeful but we have no indication that they have been released. Thank you for your continued prayers and efforts to help bring them home,” he wrote.
Tony Kim, an accountant in his 50s, was detained on espionage charges in April 2017 after spending a month working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST).
“Some officials at PUST told me his arrest was not related to his work at PUST,” said Chan-mo Park, the chancellor of the university, which predominantly teaches the children of North Korea’s elite.
“He had been involved with some other activities outside PUST, such as helping an orphanage,” he added.
Another of the detainees, Kim Hak-song, had also worked at PUST before he was held on suspicion of “hostile acts” in May 2017.
He had reportedly moved to Pyongyang to start an experimental farm at the university.
Kim Dong-chul, a pastor in his 60s, was detained on spying charges in 2015 and sentenced to a decade of hard labour the next year.
In an interview with CNN in January 2016, he said he had lived in Fairfax, Virginia, before moving to the Chinese-North Korean border to run a business involved in international trade and hotel services.
“I’m asking the US or South Korean government to rescue me,” he said.
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