WASHINGTON (Reuters) - Three Americans detained in North Korea will be a factor in any talks between U.S. officials and their North Korean counterparts as they discuss a future summit, a White House official said on Tuesday.

“The fact that there are three Americans who are being held unlawfully in North Korea is something that is on the minds of all Americans serving in this administration right now,” Matthew Pottinger, the White House National Security Council director for Asian affairs, told reporters.

“I’m not going to talk about how that factors in but you can be sure it factors very much into future interactions between our government and the North Korean government.”