Freed detainees head home for big welcome

Freed after more than a year in prison, three Americans flew homeward from North Korea late Tuesday toward a big middle-of-thenight celebration featuring President Donald Trump — the latest sign of improving relations between longtime adversaries in the buildup to a historic summit between Trump and North Korea’s King Jong Un.

The three men, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, walked on their own from a van and onto the plane of top diplomat Mike Pompeo. It was the culmination of Pompeo’s 12-and-half-hour visit to the North Korean capital, which included a 90-minute meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump promised “quite a scene” at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington for the detainees, who were released as Secretary of State Mike Pompeo visited North Korea on Wednesday to finalize plans for the summit.

Singapore was the likely site, late this month or in early June, for Trump’s most ambitious foreign police effort yet.

Trump made a point of publicly thanking North Korea’s leader for the prisoners’ release — “I appreciate Kim Jong Un doing this” — and hailed it as a sign of cooling tensions and growing opportunity on the Korean peninsula.