N Korea detainees to be freed

Unconfirmed reports North Korea detainees set to be freed

The White House says it will welcome the release of three Americans imprisoned in North Korea as a goodwill gesture.

THE White House says it will welcome the release of three Americans imprisoned in North Korea as a goodwill gesture before a planned summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, but it isn’t confirming reports that they are about to be freed.

Expectations have grown that North Korea will soon release the three ahead of the unprecedented summit in the coming weeks.

CNN, citing an unnamed source, said yesterday the prisoners’ release was imminent, adding the groundwork for the move was laid two months ago when North Korea’s foreign minister travelled to Sweden and proposed the idea.

“We can’t confirm the validity of any of the reports currently out about their release, but we certainly would see this as a sign of goodwill if North Korea were to release the three Americans ahead of discussions between President Trump and Kim Jong-un,” White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said.

The three are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong Chul, Kim Sang-duk, who spent a month teaching at the foreign-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) before he was arrested in 2017 and Kim Hak Song, who also taught at PUST.

Mr Trump did not mention Korea or the prisoners when he spoke at a prayer event at the White House yesterday.

“Our country is doing very well. You’ll see some very good announcements very shortly,” he said.

On Wednesday, Mr Trump said on Twitter: “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. Stay tuned!”

The US Government is looking into reports that the Americans had recently been relocated from a labour camp to a hotel near Pyongyang.