The three men — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim — walked on their own from a van and onto the plane of top diplomat Mike Pompeo. It was the culmination of Pompeo’s 12-and-a-half-hour visit to the North Korean capital, which included a 90-minute meeting with leader Kim Jong Un. “We’re granting amnesty to the three detained Americans,” the North Korean emissary told Pompeo at Pyongyang’s Koryo Hotel, according to the senior U.S. official who requested anonymity to discuss the exchange. ADVERTISEMENTThe North Korean official then advised that the releases would follow a “very brief ceremony” — which he described as more like a legal process. Relatively little is known about the men, all Korean-Americans, and the circumstances in which they ended up in North Korean custody.

Source: Philippine Daily Inquirer May 10, 2018 02:15 UTC