US President Donald Trump early Thursday welcomed home three Americans freed by North Korea at an air base near Washington and declared their release a sign of promise toward his goal of de-nuclearizing the Korean Peninsula.
Trump called it a "great honor" to welcome the detainees to the US and added, "The true honor is going to be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons."
Joined by the former detainees, Trump thanked North Korea's Kim Jong Un for releasing the Americans, and said he believes Kim wants to reach an agreement on denuclearizing the Korean peninsula. "I really think he wants to do something," the president said.
First lady Melania Trump, Vice President Mike Pence and a host of senior administration officials joined Trump to celebrate the occasion at Joint Base Andrews.
The men, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, had been released Wednesday amid a warming of relations between the longtime adversaries.
"This is a special night for these three really great people," Trump told reporters as he stood on the tarmac with the former detainees. On the U.S. relationship with North Korea, Trump declared, "We're starting off on a new footing."
The freed prisoners appeared tired but in excellent spirits, flashing peace signs as they emerged from the aircraft. They were joined by a translator who said "it's like a dream" and that the men were "very, very happy" to be freed.
After Trump's remarks, the three men boarded a bus for Walter Reed National Military Medical Center. The White House said earlier they would be evaluated and receive medical treatment at the Washington-area facility before being reunited with their families.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had secured their release in Pyongyang after meeting with the North Korean leader on final plans for the Trump-Kim summit.
Two of the men, agricultural expert Kim Hak Song and former professor Tony Kim, were arrested in 2017, while Kim Dong Chul, a South Korea-born American businessman and pastor in his 60s, was sentenced to 10 years' hard labor in 2016.
Before the plane's arrival Trump described the men's release as "a gesture of goodwill."
The White House said Trump spoke with his South Korean counterpart Moon Jae-in on Wednesday about Pompeo's visit to North Korea, and that the two presidents welcomed the release of the Americans and "expressed hope for joyful family reunions."
