More winning for President Trump and America! The three American hostages are on their way back home!
A plane carrying U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and three Americans freed by North Korea lands at Yokota base in Japan:
BREAKING NEWS: @SecPompeo has just landed in Japan with 3 freed American hostages with him. pic.twitter.com/kNOBo8G06U
— Fox News (@FoxNews) May 9, 2018
PRESIDENT 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.
https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/994192995737096192
Secretary of State Pompeo tweeted:
I had productive meetings in Pyongyang with Chairman Kim Jong-un and made progress. I'm delighted to bring home three Americans.
— Secretary Pompeo (@SecPompeo) May 9, 2018
A STATEMENT FROM THE WHITE HOUSE PRESS SECRETARY:
The statement confirms the release of the three hostages by North Korea and says this is viewed a “positive gesture of goodwill”. The Americans appear to be in good condition. Americans look forward to welcoming the hostages home and seeing them reunited with their loved ones.
OUR PREVIOUS REPORT ON THE IMPENDING RELEASE OF HOSTAGES THAT HAS NOW HAPPENED!
SEOUL, May 9 (Yonhap) — North Korea is expected to release three U.S. citizens held in the communist state on Wednesday, an official from Seoul’s presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, in an apparent goodwill gesture ahead of a historic meeting between its leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The official said U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was expected to return with the exact time of the Trump-Kim summit, along with the three U.S. captives in North Korea. “We expect him to bring the date, time and the captives,” the official said, while speaking on condition of anonymity. (more)
Conservative Treehouse reports:
Kim Dong Chul, Kim Sang Duk, Kim Hak Soon are the names of the three hostages being released. Two of the captives, Hak-Soon and Sang Duk, belong to the Pyongyang Univ of Science & Technology and were taken in in Apr & May 2017: they’ve been held for a year. The third, Kim Dong Chul, is an ordained minister taken in 2015 when he was commuting to Rason from China and and has been serving a 10-year sentence on espionage charges.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo specifically requested their release while visiting Pyongyang on Easter weekend. The three are US citizens with Korean heritage. National Security Adviser John Bolton said on Fox News Sunday that North Korea could show its sincerity by releasing US hostages prior to the summit.
In March of this year Sweden was initially playing a large role and helping negotiate the terms of the North-South Korea summit as well as the release of three Americans held captive in North Korea.
“We believe that Mr. Trump can take them back on the day of the U.S.-North Korea summit, or he can send an envoy to take them back to the U.S. before the summit,” said Choi Sung-ryong, an activist pursuing release of North Korea’s political prisoners.