Donald Trump promised the world they would witness ‘quite a scene’ as he welcomes three Americans imprisoned in North Korea back to America today.
The US president and his wife Melania are at the Andrews Air Base outside Washington to see Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim land in the US – despite it being 2am local time.
On the Tarmac a giant American Flag was flown between two Maryland fire trucks as Mr Trump prepared to greet the men as heroes along with Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence.
The three men were released yesterday after more than a year in prison after Secretary of State Mike Pompeo left Pyongyang after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un to formalise final plans for a Trump-Kim summit this year.
Speaking yesterday at a cabinet meeting Mr Trump said: ‘I appreciate Kim Jong Un for doing this’.
The US president and his wife Melania are waiting at the Andrews Air Base in Washington to meet Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim
Mr Trump and Melania arrived at Andrews at just after 2am
Vice President Mike Pence and second lady Karen Pence (together centre) arrive to greet the three Americans formerly held hostage in North Korea
President Trump promised ‘quite a show’ as North Korea released three American prisoners who have been flown to the US
Singapore is the likely site for the historic meeting between the US President and North Korea’s dictator at the end of May or in early June and will last up to two days.
When asked if the talks will lead to prolonged peace he said: ‘We’ll see how it all works out. Maybe it will, maybe it won’t but it can be a great thing for North Korea, South Korea, Japan and the entire world. We hope it all works out’.
The release of the three men was only sealed about an hour before the US secretary of state departed the North Korean capital.
They walked on their own from a van and onto the plane, the culmination of Pompeo’s 12-hour visit to the North Korean capital, which included a 90-minute meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.
Returning to his hotel from that meeting, Mr Pompeo had given reporters a fingers-crossed sign when asked if there was good news about the detainees.
A North Korean official came to the hotel shortly after to inform Mr Pompeo that Kim had granted amnesties to the three and that they would be released at 7pm local time, according to a senior US official present for the exchange.
Carl Risch, the assistant secretary of state for consular affairs, and a doctor went to another hotel to pick up the men and bring them to the airport, the official said.
They finally left custody at 7.45pm, and by 8.42pm. they were flying home.
As soon as the plane cleared North Korean airspace, Mr Pompeo called Mr Trump to inform him of the releases with the men all apparently in good health.
Even before Mr Pompeo’s plane had touched down for a stopover at Yokota Air Base in neighbouring Japan, the president announced to the world by Twitter that the ‘3 wonderful gentlemen’ were free.
U.S. citizen Kim Hak-song was detained ‘on suspicion of acts against the state’
Kim Dong-chul, pictured above, left and right, had been detained since 2015. He was arrested for spying and had been sentenced to 10 years’ hard labor
In a statement released by the State Department, the former detainees expressed their ‘deep appreciation’ to the US government, Mr Trump, Mr Pompeo and the American people ‘for bringing us home’.
Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-Duk, was a Korean-American professor and aid worker before his arrest
They are the latest in a series of Americans to be held in North Korea for alleged anti-state activities in recent years, only to be freed during the visit of a high-level US official or statesman.
Their releases draw a line under an issue that had weighed on plans for a historic summit between Mr Kim and Mr Trump that will focus on North Korea’s nuclear weapons.
‘We’re granting amnesty to the three detained Americans,’ the North Korean emissary told Mr Pompeo at Pyongyang’s Koryo Hotel, according to the senior US official.ea
‘We issued the order to grant immediate amnesty to the detainees.’
‘That’s great,’ the secretary of state replied.
The North Korean official then advised that the releases would follow a ‘very brief ceremony’ – which he described as more like a legal process.
The official closed with a gentle warning for the US to prevent a repeat: ‘You should make care that they do not make the same mistakes again,’ the official said. ‘This was a hard decision.’
President Donald Trump tweeted late Wednesday that he was ‘Looking forward to greeting the Hostages (no longer) at 2:00 A.M.’
President Trump triumphantly announced the release of the trio of Americans in his own style – with a pair of tweets
North Korean ruler Kim Jong-un has been photographed smiling and laughing with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just moments before three American detainees boarded a flight home after months in captivity
The plane carrying Pompeo and the three Americans – Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim – touched down on US soil in Anchorage, Alaska on Wednesday for a brief refueling stop before continuing on its journey to Washington, DC