Report Claims North Korea Near Releasing Three American Detainees
This is why North Korea likes to detain Americans, they make great bargaining chips when negotiations like the ones going on now happen:
The U.S. government is looking into reports that three Americans detained in North Korea have been relocated from a labor camp to a hotel near Pyongyang ahead of a planned summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a U.S. official said on Wednesday.
The official, speaking on condition of anonymity, said there was no immediate confirmation of any change in the detainees’ status. Trump administration officials have pressed for their release as a show of goodwill by North Korea before the unprecedented U.S.-North Korea summit expected in late May or early June.
“As everybody is aware, the past Administration has long been asking for three hostages to be released from a North Korean Labor camp, but to no avail. Stay tuned!” Trump said in a Twitter post late on Wednesday.
CNN, in a report on Thursday, cited an unnamed source saying the release of the three men was imminent, adding that the groundwork for the move came two months ago when North Korea’s foreign minister traveled to Sweden and proposed the idea.
South Korean media reports on Wednesday quoted a South Korean activist as saying North Korea had relocated the three Americans from a labor camp to a hotel on the outskirts of Pyongyang. Choi Soung-yong, the activist, told Reuters that Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul were moved in early April following instructions from superior authorities, citing residents in Pyongyang. [Reuters]
You can read more at the link, but despite a clear risk of being a long term detainee for committing the smallest of offenses, we will probably continue to see Americans in future go over to North Korea and get detained.
Um… 2 of the 3 were detained since Trump took office. Only Kim Dong-chul was detained during the Obama administration, the other two were arrested last year.
Good that they’re coming home, but “Adventurous Americans” will always want to go to North Korea. I’m sure if Kim Jongun needs a hostage, he’ll find someone doing something stupid just when he needs to.
MTB, what is rhe relevance of when they were detained? Isn’t it enough that three Americans might be freed?
Those idiots should never have been there in the first place.
SETNAFFA,
The relevance is in Trump’s slightly misleading tweet.
“As everybody is aware, the past Administration has long been asking for three hostages to be released from a North Korean Labor camp, but to no avail. Stay tuned!” Trump said in a Twitter post late on Wednesday.
Two of the three were taken on Trump’s watch, one was taken on Obama’s.
It’s good that these three are coming back; it’s almost inevitable that someone else further down the line will become a bargaining chip. Doesn’t matter who the Big Kahuna is in the Oval Office.
MTB, thanks! I don’t read most peoples’ tweets…
And somehow I missed that in the article. Maybe I just skipped it when I saw “Twitter”. 😉