Donald Trump says Kim Jong-un wants to bring North Korea 'into the real world' as he greets freed US detainees with flags and fanfare
It was 3am in Washington DC and it was the moment America had been waiting for. The men emerged hesitantly at first from the government jet, before one raised his hands in a peace sign to applause from the crowd.
The three Korean-Americans detained for over a year by Pyongyang were finally home.
Frail and slightly stooped, but otherwise apparently healthy, Kim Dong-cheol, Kim Hak-seong and Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-deok, made their way slowly down red-carpeted aeroplane stairs to waiting TV cameras.
The former prisoners looked tired and slightly shell-shocked by the attention, but beside them Donald Trump, the US president, beamed as he enjoyed the apex of his diplomatic coup in securing their release – quipping to journalists that he had boosted their 3am ratings.
The president and his wife Melania, and vice-president Mike Pence and his wife Karen, had already taken 10 minutes aboard the aircraft to privately welcome the men back to home soil.
On the tarmac, Mr Trump immediately thanked Kim Jong-un, the North Korean leader, for granting freedom to the detainees, adding that it was his “great honour” to be standing next to them. “It was important for all of us to get these three great people out,” he said.
The prisoners were freed after US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo travelled to the North Korean capital. Kim Hak-seong and Kim Sang-deok, were both working as academics at a Pyongyang university when they were arrested last year on suspicion of “hostile acts” during heightened tensions over North Korea’s rapidly advancing nuclear and weapons programmes.
Kim Dong-cheol, a South Korean-born American pastor, was arrested in North Korea in 2015 on charges of spying and sentenced to 10 years of hard labour.
“It’s like a dream, and we’re very happy,” he told waiting journalists of his return. He said that he had been made to do a lot of work while imprisoned but that he had been treated when he was ill.
Mr Trump said that the early release of the men ahead of his summit with the North Korean leader, now expected to take place in Singapore in June, indicated that “we are starting off on a new footing.”
Following a landmark April summit between Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in, the talks with Mr Trump aim to advance progress towards denuclearisation and peace on the Korean peninsula.
“My proudest achievement will be when we denuclearise that entire peninsula. People have been waiting for that for a long time,” said Mr Trump. “A true honour will be if we have a victory in getting rid of nuclear weapons.”
Foreigners detained by North Korea
Despite warnings from experts that the process of persuading Pyongyang to dismantle its weapons programme will be long and precarious, the president struck an optimistic note on Thursday morning.
“We have a very good chance of doing something meaningful,” he said. “I really think he (Kim) wants to do something to bring that country back into the real world.”
New satellite footage has raised hopes that Kim is making good his pledge to close down a nuclear test site built under Mount Mantap in the Punggye-ri area.
Analysts suggested the pictures showed a reduction in the number of buildings around the site, though there were concerns the changes could be staged ahead of his meeting with Mr Trump.
Kim Dong-cheol
Of all the US nationals held by North Korea over the last 20 years, Mr Kim has spent the longest amount of time in detention.
Born in Seoul but a naturalised US citizen, he had been living in China and operated a business in the Rason Special Economic Zone when he was arrested in October 2015, although that was not confirmed until January the following year.
He appeared at a stage-managed press conference in March 2016 and confessed to “trying to steal military secrets in collusion with South Koreans”. Seoul has denied any involvement in the case.
Mr Kim was sentenced to 10 years of hard labour after being found guilty of espionage and other crimes against the North Korean state.
Kim Sang-deok
Mr Kim, also known as Tony Kim, is a Korean-American who had just completed a one-month assignment as a guest lecturer in international finance and management at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology.
He was also involved in humanitarian work in North Korea, including transporting foreign aid to areas of the country hardest hit by the flooding in the summer, which killed more than 500 people and destroyed tens of thousands of homes.
Mr Kim and his wife were arrested on April 22, 2017 , shortly before they were due to board a flight at Pyongyang’s Sunan International Airport.
Mr Kim’s wife was subsequently permitted to leave the country, but he has been found guilty of “hostile criminal acts with an aim to subvert the country”.
Kim Hak-seong
Kim Hak-seong was taken into custody on May 7 2017, and has since been accused of carrying out “hostile acts” against the North Korean state.
Mr Kim had also been working at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, where he had been involved in agricultural development work.
An ethnic Korean, Mr Kim moved to the US from China in the mid-1990s and studied in California. Colleagues described him as being “devoted” to the development of the North’s agricultural sector so the nation could become self-sufficient in basic foods.
