Donald Trump tweeted Wednesday that North Korea has released three U.S. citizens from detention in "good health" and they are currently en route to Andrews Air Force Base with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Trump had previously claimed the Obama administration had "long been asking" for their release, but in fact two of the three had been detained during Trump's term.
Kim Hak-song was arrested on May 6, 2017. He worked at Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, a university founded by American evangelical scholars.
Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-duk, was detained on April 22, 2017. He taught at the same university in Pyongyang for a month.
The third hostage — Kim Dong-chul — has been held in North Korea since October 2015. He is the only one of the three who was detained during the Obama administration.
Regardless of when these three Americans were taken, their release is certainly cause for celebration. The move was viewed as a good-will gesture by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un ahead of the bilateral talks between Trump and Kim expected in the coming weeks.
It might also help if our nation’s top diplomat, “Sec. Mike,” quit referring to the North Korean leader as “Chairman Un” and instead began calling him by his proper surname, Chairman Kim, ahead of those negotiations.