(Reuters) - Freedom can come with remarkable swiftness for US citizens held prisoner by North Korea, an experience that may await three Americans currently detained by the reclusive nation. Ahead of a diplomatic thaw and planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, there were reports the detainees were relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near the North Korean capital of Pyongyang, raising speculation they could be released. I was in the hospital and taken to a hotel,” the longest-held American in North Korea, Kenneth Bae, said in an interview from South Korea. Once informed of his release in 2014, an American delegation came in and within 30 minutes he was aboard an airplane to take him out of North Korea. Since the end of the Korean War, North Korea has taken 17 Americans captive, many of whom were in the country for humanitarian reasons inspired by their Christian faith.

Source: Huffington Post May 05, 2018 14:15 UTC