North Korea: Donald Trump hints of imminent news on three American detainees moved from prison camp to hotel
US government is looking into reports that three Americans detained in North Korea have been relocated from a labour camp to a hotel near Pyongyang
US President Donald Trump hinted that there would be imminent news about three Americans detained in North Korea, after sources said they had been relocated ahead of their possible release.
The development comes as Trump was preparing for a historic summit meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, following months of tense sabre-rattling over the North’s nuclear and missile programmes.
“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 wrote on Twitter.
Two of the three hostages were detained in 2017, after Trump had assumed office.
The United States has been demanding the North free Kim Hak-song, Kim Sang-duk and Kim Dong-chul and reports have said the two sides were close to reaching a deal on their release.
“They are staying in a hotel on the outskirts of Pyongyang,” Choi Sung-ryong, a South Korean activist with contacts in the North said earlier.
He said the three were being kept separately but “going on tours, receiving medical treatment and eating good food.”
