Our live coverage has ended. Scroll through the posts below to read about the return of the three American detainees.
President Trump hinted at putting on a show for the return of the Americans detained in North Korea, and it didn’t disappoint.
“It’s everything that?President Trump loves,” CNN’s Will Ripley said before the men’s release.?“It’s a photo op. It’s pretty?dramatic. These three men who?have been in North Korean?custody walking out.”
The trio landed at nearly 3 a.m. ET at Joint Base Andrews – the military installation near Washington famous for housing Air Force One – where they were greeted by the President and the First Lady on board the plane.
With an American flag at their back, the group descended stairs to the cheers of military members who were watching.
Hundreds of journalists were credentialed for the event, and Trump held an impromptu news conference with some of them once back on solid ground.
The President was in peak form – he was complimentary of the Americans released and hinted at bigger things to come during his scheduled talks with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. He used the opportunity to take a dig at The New York Times and joked that the coverage would have some of the highest ratings ever for 3 a.m.
There were a couple awkward or uncomfortable moments, notably when the President congratulated the detainees on “being in this country” and then when relaying a question from the press about how they were treated, after which Trump added “you have to give them the answer.”
After addressing the return of the three American detainees, Trump was asked about the prospects of making a deal with Kim Jong Un.
“I really think he wants to do something and bring his country into the real world,” Trump said.
“I think this will be a very big success. It’s never been taken this far, there’s never been a relationship like this.”
“Some great things can happen, and that’s what we hope,” he added.
Trump said the release of the three men was part of working towards the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Trump is now on Marine One leaving Joint Base Andrews. The detainees are expected to be extensively debriefed before they can head home to their families.
President Trump and one of the detainees spoke to the media following their arrival at Joint Base Andrews.
“This is a special night for these three really great people,” Trump said before introducing them.
“Frankly, we didn’t think this was going to happen, and it did. It was a very important thing to all of us.”
When asked how he felt, Kim Dong Chul said through a translator: “It’s like a dream and we are very very happy.”
“We were treated in many different ways,” he said, adding he had been forced to do hard labor, but also received medical treatment from the North Koreans when he fell sick.
Trump also said he wanted to pay his “warmest respects” to the family of Otto Warmbier, the American who was released by the North Koreans in a vegetative state, only to die days later.
Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, have exited their plane after arriving at Joint Base Andrews outside Washington. The three shook President Trump’s hand and posed for pictures outside their plane.
They were cheered on by members of the military at the base, according to CNN’s Jeff Zeleny on hand.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump have boarded the plane to greet the trio of Americans who were freed from North Korean detention. They’re expected to chat and then exit the aircraft together.
Vice President Mike Pence, his wife Karen and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo are waiting beside the plane for the group.
Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk have landed at Joint Base Andrews, just hours after they were was released from North Korean detention.
They spent months behind bars in the isolated nation. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are on hand to greet them.
Trump is expected to meet them on board their plane, and then the group will exit together.
US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo has landed at Joint Base Andrews in Maryland after a whirlwind trip to North Korea, during which he was able to secure the release of three Americans held in North Korea.
Pompeo quickly left the plane and is now going inside to meet with the President Donald Trump.
Trump and Vice President Mike Pence are already on hand, awaiting the arrival of the three detainees freed from North Korea.
The plane holding the freed Americans – which has more medical equipment on board than Pompeo’s plane – is believed to be running about 15 minutes behind.
Marine One, the US President’s helicopter, has just landed at Joint Base Andrews. President Trump is with his wife and national security adviser John Bolton, among others, on hand to greet the three Americans who were detained in North Korea until just hours ago.
President Donald Trump is en route on Marine One to Joint Base Andrews, where he’ll greet the Americans who were detained in North Korea.
Traveling with him aboard Marine One is First Lady Melania Trump, the first lady’s chief of staff, Lindsey Reynolds, National Security Adviser John Bolton and Press Secretary Sarah Sanders.
US Vice President Mike Pence and his wife Karen have arrived at Joint Base Andrews, where he and President Donald Trump will greet the three Americans who have been released from North Korean custody.
No family members or friends of the three freed Americans will be on hand for their arrival, an official says.
This is largely for protocol reasons in reunifying detainees – they must debrief intelligence officials first. Also, an official said there is no family in the immediate area.
More than 200 credentialed members of the press are on hand to witness the event.
Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe congratulated US President Donald Trump on the release of the American detainees in North Korea in a phone call early Thursday morning Tokyo time.
While briefing reporters on the call, Abe said he thought it the three men’s release was a “big achievement” that showed the “positive attitude of North Korea.”
The issue of foreign nationals detained in North Korea is a sensitive subject in Japan. More than a dozen Japanese nationals remain missing after being allegedly abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s.
Of the 14 Americans who have been detained by North Korea since 1996, one of the most high-profile releases was that of journalists Laura Ling and Euna Lee.
The pair were employees of former US Vice President Al Gore’s Current TV when they were arrested in March 2009, reporting on the border of North Korea and China. Months later they were sentenced to 12 years hard labor on charges of entering the country illegally to conduct a smear campaign.
Ling and Lee were dramatically freed after former President Bill Clinton flew to Pyongyang, where he secured a pardon for them and brought them back to Los Angeles.
President Donald Trump and First Lady Melania Trump are set to leave the White House at 2 a.m. ET.
They’ll likely walk across the White House South Lawn to Marine One – the President’s helicopter – which will take the couple to Joint Base Andrews nearby, where the former North Korean detainees are due to land shortly.
We’re getting closer to when the three Americans formerly held by North Korea are supposed to land near Washington, where they’ll be greeted by US President Donald Trump.
Journalists are on hand right now at Joint Base Andrews, in Maryland, where two giant fire trucks are holding up a US flag.
With Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk’s return to the United States, the only foreigners confirmed to still be detained in North Korea are six South Koreans.
Three of them are North Korean defectors to the South who have since ended up in Pyongyang’s custody. The other three are missionaries.
CNN met two of them – Kim Kuk-gi and Choe Chun-gil – in 2015. During separate interviews organized and overseen by the North Korean government, the two South Korean men admitted to the government’s allegations they had spied on the North.
South Korea’s National Intelligence Service said the accusations were “groundless.”
Kim Jung-wook, 54, has been detained since October 2013. He was convicted of committing “hostile acts” against North Korea and sentenced to a lifetime of hard labor.
Though not in official detention, over a dozen Japanese nationals remain missing after being allegedly abducted by North Korean agents in the 1970s and 1980s. Pyongyang admitted to some abductions in the early 2000s, but some in Japan claim there are more nationals still being held in North Korea.
Since 1996, 14 Americans have been detained in North Korea.
Here’s who they are and how long they were held:
Kim Dong Chul, 30 months
Kim Hak-song, 12 months
Kim Sang Duk, 12 months
Otto Warmbier, 17 months?*returned in a vegetative state, died days later
Kenneth Bae, 24 months
Matthew Todd Miller, seven months
Jeffrey Fowle,?five months
Merril Newman, about two months
Eddie Yong Su Jun, about six months
Aijalon Mahli Gomes, about seven months
Robert Park, fewer than two months
Laura Ling, about five months
Euna Lee, about five months
Evan Hunziker, three months
In addition, a number of American servicemen have also been detained in North Korea following the end of the Korean War in 1953. The crew of the USS Pueblo was held after their ship was captured 50 years ago (they’ve since sued the North Korean government.) Two American soldiers defected to the North and are believed to be held after their initial crossings. James Dresnok and Charles Jenkins both crossed the heavily militarized border separating the two Koreas in 1962 and 1965, respectively.
Dresnok was thought to be the last remaining American soldier in the country before his sons revealed last year that his father had died. Jenkins returned to the US in the early 2000s and was dishonorably discharged and spent fewer than 30 days in jail. He died in December.
A plane carrying the freed Americans from North Korea has taken off from Anchorage, Alaska, according to pool reports.
A State Department official confirmed all three Americans were on a plane that took off for Joint Base Andrews. None of them split off in Alaska.?
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s plane took off separately.
The Americans are scheduled to arrive at Joint Base Andrews between 2:30 a.m. ET and 2:45 a.m. ET.
President Trump said he will greet the Americans when they land.
The three Americans freed from North Korea just issued a joint statement:
Three Americans detained in North Korea have arrived in the US.
A plane carrying Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim, landed in Anchorage, Alaska at 5:21 p.m. ET on Wednesday.
The plane is refueling before it heads to Washington. President Trump will greet the group tomorrow morning.
Watch the moment:
With CNN’s Laura Koran
President Trump took to Twitter Wednesday night to share his excitement about meeting three American detainees who were on their way to the US.
Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk (also known as Tony Kim) were detained in North Korea.
While Kim Dong Chul has been in North Korean custody since before Trump was elected, the other two detainees were arrested last spring, after Trump’s inauguration and as tensions between Washington and Pyongyang were beginning to ramp up.
They will likely arrive in the US tomorrow morning.
North Korea leader Kim Jong Un released the three American detainees at the request of President Trump, the Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) reported.
“He accepted an official suggestion of the US president for the release of Americans who have been detained in the DPRK for their anti-DPRK hostilities, and gave an order of the chairman of the DPRK State Affairs Commission on granting amnesty to them for their repatriation,” state-run news agency reported.
The Americans, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk (also known as Tony Kim), are on their way right now to the US with US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Three US nationals, who were detained in North Korea, could arrive in the US around 5 a.m. ET or 6 a.m. ET, CNN’s Will Ripley reported.
Earlier today, President Trump said he was planning to greet the Americans, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk (also known as Tony Kim), in Washington at 2 a.m. ET.
“Again, it’s everything that?President Trump loves,” Ripley said.?“It’s a photo op. It’s pretty?dramatic. These three men who?have been in North Korean?custody walking out.”
Tony Kim, whose grandchild was born?while he was detained, and Kim Hak-song will be reunited with his family.?
Kim Dong Chu, the longest prisoner, had one of the toughest ordeals because he?was isolated and served hard labor inside a prison.
“For him especially, you can imagine it’s going to be a very?difficult road ahead, quite an adjustment,” Ripley said.?
President Trump said Wednesday he is “honored” by the release of the three Americans who were held in North Korea.
“We’re honored by the fact that the three gentlemen are coming home, and I?look forward to seeing you,” Trump said during a Cabinet meeting on Wednesday.
The President added that the US is having “serious and positive communications with North Korea,” a situation he believed many people would have “never thought” possible.
President Trump was just asked if something could still “scuttle” his potential meeting with Kim Jong Un, which is being negotiated.
“Everything can be scuttled, everything can be scuttled. A lot of things can happen. A lot of good things can happen, a lot of bad things can happen,” Trump said.
“I believe that both sides will negotiate a deal. I think it’s going to be a very successful deal. I think we have a really good shot and making it successful. But lots of things could happen,” he added.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he was “thrilled” to greet three US citizens following their prolonged detentions in North Korea, and looks forward to a productive summit between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un.
Speaking to two reporters aboard his plane following its departure from North Korean airspace, Pompeo said the released Americans “seem to be in good health,” but would be traveling from Japan to the United States aboard a separate plane with “more robust medical capabilities” nevertheless.
“I’m thrilled that we have them back,” said Pompeo. “I’m happy that actually President Trump set the conditions for this to happen, and I’m thrilled with that. But there’s still a lot of work to do to achieve our ultimate goal.”
Pompeo said a date and time has been set for the potential upcoming summit between Trump and Kim, but would not reveal those details. Pompeo said the governments are planning to hold the summit on “a single day,” but added that, “in the event that there is more to discuss, there’ll be an opportunity for it to extend into the second day as well.”
The top US diplomat suggested the release of the detainees was a positive step ahead of the summit.
“I think that Chairman Kim is trying to set good conditions for the summit, right,” said Pompeo. “I think we are having good conversations, productive conversations, and so I think the work that President Trump has done to put us in this place made this possible.”
Vice President Mike Pence tweeted that he spoke on the phone with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who told him the freed Americans are “in good health.”
That’s a marked difference from the state college student Otto Warmbier’s parents found him in when he was freed from a North Korean prison. Warmbier arrived in the US in June 2017 in what doctors described as “unresponsive wakefulness,” or a persistent vegetative state, and he died days later.
The 22-year-old had suffered extensive loss of brain tissue in all regions of the brain, and his father Fred Warmbier rejected the North Korean regime’s explanation that his son fell into a coma after contracting botulism and taking a sleeping pill in March 2016 after his trial for trying to steal a political banner.
A US government plane carrying the three freed Americans and Secretary of State Mike Pompeo landed at Yokota Airbase in the outskirts of Tokyo, Japan, early Wednesday morning.
The photo above shows Secretary of State Mike Pompeo being greeted by senior North Korean official Kim Yong Chul, director of the United Front Department, which is responsible for North-South Korea affairs (left), and Foreign Minister Ri Su Yong.
This was take on Pompeo’s arrival in Pyongyang yesterday.
Pompeo was in North Korea for just one day. He got on a return flight a few hours ago with the three freed American prisoners in tow.
Pyongyang University of Science and Technology has welcomed the release of three U.S. citizens jailed in North Korea, two of whom were working at the university at the time of their arrest.
?Kim Dong Chul is the third American released from North Korea on Wednesday, when a one-day trip to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo coincided with the release.
Defense Secretary James Mattis just said “there is some reason for optimism” that the US talks with North Korea “could be fruitful.”
Here’s his full remarks:
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just tweeted that he had “productive” meetings with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and he was “delighted” to bring the freed Americans home.
The Vice President just tweeted that the release of the three American detainees is a step toward peace ahead of Trump’s meeting with Kim Jong Un.
White House press secretary Sarah Sanders just sent a statement on the release of the three Americans, who are on their way home now.
The White House says the President sees this move as a gesture of goodwill ahead of the meeting with Kim Jong Un.?
Here’s the full statement:?
The family of Tony Kim, who was released from North Korea and is on his way back to the US now, just released this statement:
South Korea’s government says it “welcomes North Korea’s decision to release the three US detainees.”
In a statement released to reporters, Yoon Young-chan, senior secretary to the President for Public Communication, said that “North Korea’s decision will work as a very positive factor for a successful NK-US summit.”
The three Americans, Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk (also known as Tony Kim)?were detained in North Korea for months.
Kim Dong Chul was arrested in 2015 for spying on behalf of South Korea, he told CNN?in January 2016.?The interview was conducted in the presence of North Korean officials, so CNN could not determine whether Kim’s comments were made under duress.
Tony Kim and Kim Hak-song — who were arrested in?April?and?May?of 2017 respectively — were both accused of carrying out “hostile acts” against the Kim Jong Un regime.?Both worked at the?Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST), which bills itself as the only privately run university in the North Korean capital.
Tony Kim’s son, Kim Sol, said that he and his family “are hopeful but we have no indication that they (the detained Americans) have been released” in a Facebook post after Trump’s tweet.
President Trump added in his tweets today that a time and location has been set for his upcoming meeting with North Korea’s Kim Jong Un.
This comes on the heels of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo’s visit to North Korea. (He also met with Kim while he was CIA director.) Pompeo is returning with the three American detainees who have been imprisoned in North Korea for months.
An official with knowledge of the negotiations previously told CNN that the North Koreans decided to free the Americans two months ago, and that North Korea’s foreign minister, Ri Yong Ho, had proposed their release during his visit to Sweden in March.
At the time, US officials insisted that their release “must not be related or used to loosen the main issue of denuclearization,” the source said, but that message seems to have changed in recent days, according to a source at the National Security Council, who said the development would be viewed as a goodwill gesture ahead of the planned summit with Kim Jong Un.
President Trump tweeted that the three Americans detained in North Korea are on their way home with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo. They will arrive at 2 a.m., and Trump says he will be there to greet them.
President Trump just tweeted that the three Americans detained in North Korea are in good health and on their way back to the US with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.
Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang Duk, also known as Tony Kim,?have been detained in North Korea for months.
President Trump said his administration has been in “constant contact” with North Korea about the three American detainees.
President Trump said he and his administration have settled on a time and place for his upcoming meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“The trip is being scheduled. We now have a date. And we have a location. We’ll be announcing it soon,” Trump said.
President Trump was just asked when the Americans detained in North Korea could be released.
Here’s how the President answered:
The National Security Council said that, as of Friday morning, there is still no update regarding the release of the three?American citizens who are?being held in North Korea.??
Their status remains unclear.?
Rudy Giuliani, a member of the President’s legal team who does not work for the?White House and does not have a security clearance, said on Fox News yesterday, “We got Kim Jong Un impressed enough to be releasing three prisoners today.”?
Along these lines, there is still no final determination on a location or date for the summit, according to a White House official.?This is despite President Trump saying this past Tuesday that he would have an announcement in a “couple days.”?
Those details?will be part of the discussions with the SK national security adviser today, though not the main focus.
?There’s a chance the US asks him to begin preparations at the DMZ for the summit, if that is the ultimate decision. As of this morning that ask has not yet been made.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo just tweeted that the US has “an unprecedented opportunity to change the course of history” with North Korea.
The tweet comes amid reports that the release of three US nationals currently detained in?North Korea?is “imminent,” and as President Trump and his administration plan a meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the agency can’t confirm the validity of reports regarding the three American prisoners in North Korea, but noted the safety and security of Americans is the department’s top priority.
Earlier today, President Trump’s lawyer Rudy Giuliani said the Americans, who are being held in a North Korean prison, are set to be released.
Nauert said it would be a great “gesture of goodwill” if North Korea did release them, also reiterating the President’s commitment to returning Americans unjustly held overseas.
The White House continues to say that it could not confirm reports that Americans detained in North Korea were being released from their labor camps.
“I can’t confirm the validity of the reports current out about their release,” press secretary Sarah Sanders?said, adding such a move would be seen as a “sign of goodwill” ahead of a President?Trump-Kim Jong Un summit.
Trump’s allies outside the White House have been heightening anticipation of a possible release. Rudy Giuliani, Trump’s lawyer, said on Fox they would be released on Thursday.
Sanders said she was not aware of any role that would allow Giuliani access to national security information.
She sought to explain Trump’s Wednesday tweet by noting Otto Warmbier was detained during President Barack Obama’s administration.
Here’s what Trump tweeted yesterday:
A US official says the administration is “confident” the Americans held in North Korea will be released but says they are still working to verify reports the prisoners have been moved from their labor camps to Pyongyang.
The official said the timing of any release is unknown. They have not yet received direct confirmation from Pyongyang that the Americans have left the camps.
The Americans’ conditions are also unknown, according to the official.
Only one American has been released from North Korean detention during the Trump’s presidency: Otto Warmbier.
The former University of Virginia student was arrested while on a tour of North Korea and held for 17 months. He returned to the US in a vegetative state and died days later.?
North Korean officials said he contracted botulism, but US doctors?found no evidence?to verify that claim.
Warmbier’s parents have since?filed a wrongful death lawsuit?against the North Korean government.
Three Americans held in a North Korean prison are set to be released, former New York City Mayor Rudy Giuliani said Thursday.
Here’s what Giuliani, who is now a member of Trump’s legal team, told Fox & Friends this morning:
President Trump teased an announcement about the prisoners’ impending release on Wednesday night, tweeting, “Stay tuned!”