WASHINGTON _ Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has secured the release of three American citizens detained in North Korea after meeting with that country's president, Kim Jong-Un, this week, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday.
Trump, who announced the detainees' release via Twitter, will meet them and Pompeo at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland at 2 a.m. Thursday, he said.
"Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting," Trump tweeted Wednesday morning. "They seem to be in good health."
Pompeo's talks with Kim were the second such meeting between the two as the new secretary of state paves the way for an historic summit between Trump and Kim that is, tentatively, planned for next month.
Trump said it was a "good meeting" with Kim.
The three Americans released Wednesday were Christian missionary Kim Hak-song, detained in May 2017; Pyongyang University of Science and Technology employee Tony Kim, detained in April 2017; and pastor Kim Dong-chul, held in 2015.
