Photo credit: Twitter | @thelocuspost

US President Donald Trump stated on Twitter this morning that he would be meeting with his Secretary of State Mike Pompeo upon the latter’s landing at Andrews airport with his ‘3 guests’, confirming that the leadership of North Korea had indeed granted early release to three political prisoners, a move seen as goodwill towards the current White House administration.

Mr Trump said: “I am pleased to inform you that 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. They seem to be in good health. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">I am pleased to inform you that 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. They seem to be in good health. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/994192995737096192?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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“Secretary Pompeo and his “guests” will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!”

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Secretary Pompeo and his “guests” will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!</p>— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) <a href="https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/994194233111273472?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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The three men are Mr Kim Hak-song, Mr Tony Kim and Mr Kim Dong-chul.

Mr Hak-song, a Christian missionary who wanted to work at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology was arrested in North Korea for "hostile acts" in May of 2017. Alongside him Mr Tony Kim was also arrested on espionage charges. He had mostly been doing humanitarian work in North Korea according to South Korean media.

<blockquote class="twitter-tweet" data-lang="en"><p lang="en" dir="ltr">Such good news: The three American men being held in North Korea as <br>"prisoners of war" are on their way to the United States with secretary of state Mike Pompeo. Developing story: <a href="https://t.co/nE5fnxsj2R">https://t.co/nE5fnxsj2R</a> <a href="https://t.co/n2XwMw1ROf">pic.twitter.com/n2XwMw1ROf</a></p>— Anna Fifield (@annafifield) <a href="https://twitter.com/annafifield/status/994200571967045637?ref_src=twsrc%5Etfw">May 9, 2018</a></blockquote>

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Lastly there is Mr Kim Dong-chul, a Christian pastor in his early 60s. He was arrested back in 2015 on similar spying charges and sentenced to 10 years hard labor in a North Korean prison camp.

A former intelligence official who worked on peace talks with North Korea for previous administrations, Mr Joseph DeTrani, said this was an excellent sign of things to come: “Releasing the three Americans is a good sign that North Korea wants a good meeting between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un and, eventually, a peaceful resolution of the nuclear and other issues with North Korea.”

Source:

https://twitter.com/realDonaldTrump/status/994194233111273472