North Korea will soon release three detained US nationals (US). A US official told CNN two months ago that North Korea had made the decision to release the detainees.
North Korean Foreign Minister Ri Yong-ho has proposed their release when he visited Sweden in March. However, when US officials insist, the release of prisoners should not be related to denuclearization negotiations.
The three Americans arrested were Kim Dong-chul, Kim Hak-song, and Kim Sang-uk, known as Tony Kim. They have been detained in the North for months.
US President Donald Trump said his administration was struggling to get the three prisoners back. He appears to be the first US president to serve, who will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
"As everyone is aware of, the previous administration has long asked the three hostages to be released from the North Korean labor camp, but it did not work out," Trump said in his personal Twitter account on Wednesday (2/5).
Kim Dong-chul has been in North Korea since before Trump was elected president. While two other prisoners were arrested last spring, after Trump was sworn in and tensions between Washington and Pyongyang began to rise.
Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song, who were arrested in April and May 2017, were accused of hostile acts against Kim Jong-un's regime. Both work in Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), the only private university in the capital of Pyongyang.
"My family and I have hope, but we do not see their indication (American detained) will be released," Kim Sol, son of Tony Kim, said in response to Trump's squeal.
The families of both prisoners say Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song are innocent. Shortly after her husband was arrested, Kim Hak-song's wife said in an interview with CNN, her husband who is an agricultural expert, was trying to help North Koreans to feed themselves.
Kim Dong-chul in an interview with CNN in January 2016, said he was arrested in 2015 for spying on behalf of South Korea (ROK). The interview was conducted in the presence of North Korean officials, so CNN could not tell whether Kim's remarks were being submitted under pressure.
A White House source said that if North Korea frees the three prisoners, then North Korea is seen to have goodwill ahead of the US-North summit. "Their security and well-being will be a factor of future interaction between the United States and the North Korean government," the source said.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo told ABC News he briefed the prisoners during a secret meeting with Kim Jong-un in Pyongyang over Easter weekend. So far only one US citizen has been released from North Korean detention during the Trump presidency, Otto Warmbier.
The former Virginia University student was arrested while on tour of North Korea and detained for 17 months. He returned to the US in a coma and died a few days later.