TEMPO.CO, Washington - The White House said on Thursday it would welcome the release of three Americans imprisoned in North Korea as a goodwill gesture before a planned summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. But it could not confirm reports that they are about to be freed.
Expectations have grown that North Korea would soon release the three ahead of the unprecedented summit in the coming weeks.
Rudy Giuliani, Trump's new main lawyer, told Fox News Channel that Pyongyang would release them as early as Thursday.
It was not immediately clear whether Giuliani had direct knowledge of negotiations around the issue.
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CNN, citing an unnamed source, said on Thursday the prisoners' release was imminent, adding the groundwork for the move was laid two months ago when North Korea's foreign minister traveled to Sweden and proposed the idea.
"We can't confirm the validity of any of the reports currently out about their release, but we certainly would see this as a sign of goodwill if North Korea were to release the three Americans ahead of discussions between President Trump and Kim Jong Un," White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders told reporters.
The three are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong Chul, arrested in 2015; Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, who spent a month teaching at the foreign-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) before he was arrested in 2017; and Kim Hak Song, who also taught at PUST and was detained in 2017.
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Trump did not mention Korea or the prisoners when he spoke at a prayer event at the White House on Thursday. "Our country is doing very well. You'll see some very good announcements very shortly," he said.
On Wednesday, Trump said on Twitter, "As everybody is aware, the past Administration has long been asking for three hostages to be released from a North Korean Labor camp, but to no avail. Stay tuned!"
But of the three, only Kim Dong Chul was arrested before Trump became president in January 2017.
The U.S. government is looking into reports that the Americans had recently been relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near Pyongyang, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The summit between Trump and Kim is expected to take place in late May or early June.
REUTERS
