Donald Trump Welcomes Freed Citizens from North Korean Prisons

Donald Trump, the President of the United States, went to a military base in the suburbs of Washington early Thursday, May 9, local time, to welcome three Korean-American citizens who had returned to the United States after spending more than a year imprisoned in North Korea. According to the Associated Press, Melania Trump, the First Lady of the United States, and Mike Pence, the Vice President, accompanied Mr. Trump to welcome the three freed individuals. These three were released on Wednesday following a meeting between Mike Pompeo, the U.S. Secretary of State, and Kim Jong Un, the leader of North Korea. The meeting, which took place in Pyongyang, is part of the final preparations for a summit between the U.S. President and the North Korean leader. Reports indicate that the plane carrying Mr. Pompeo and the three former prisoners landed early Thursday at Joint Base Andrews, and the three individuals are expected to be transferred to a medical facility that day. The three Korean-American citizens, named Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song, and Tony Kim, had been imprisoned on charges of 'activities against the sovereignty of North Korea'; the U.S. State Department has released very few details about their status. The detention of these three individuals is the latest in a series of similar cases that have occurred in recent years. North Korea has detained several American citizens in recent years for 'minor offenses' and typically releases them after personal meetings between senior U.S. officials and North Korean officials. On Thursday, after meeting with the three freed individuals, Donald Trump answered reporters' questions and regarding the prospect of reaching an agreement with North Korea, he mentioned Kim Jong Un, saying, 'I think he wants to get to work and bring his country back to the real world.' The U.S. President stated that he intends to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula with North Korea. Meanwhile, some American media, including CNN, have reported that the venue for the upcoming summit between the U.S. and North Korean leaders is 'likely to be Singapore.' This meeting is expected to take place later this month or early next month. Relations between North Korea and the United States and its allies, which had been in serious crisis for months, have recently eased, and both sides have turned to diplomatic means for de-escalation. Meanwhile, Shinzo Abe, the Prime Minister of Japan, congratulated the return of the three American citizens to U.S. soil and reiterated his commitment to making additional efforts to free Japanese detainees who have been held in North Korea for decades. Japan claims that North Korea has abducted at least 17 Japanese citizens over several decades and uses them to teach Japanese language and culture to its spies. Pyongyang admitted in 2002 to the abduction of 13 Japanese citizens, stating that eight of them had died and that five others had been allowed to visit Japan and remain there.