WASHINGTON/SEOUL (Reuters) - Singapore is the most likely venue for a summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, a U.S. official said, after Pyongyang cleared a major obstacle to the meeting with the release of three American prisoners.

The three prisoners, freed after U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo met Kim in the North Korean capital, were flying back to Washington where Trump said he planned to meet them early on Thursday.

The release of the men appeared to signal an effort by Kim to improve the tone for the summit and followed his recent pledge to suspend missile tests and shut a nuclear bomb test site.

A U.S. official, speaking on the condition of anonymity, said Singapore has emerged as the likeliest location for the planned summit after Trump ruled out holding it at the heavily fortified demilitarised zone between North and South Korea.

Trump, who previously said Singapore was under consideration, said agreement had been reached on a date and venue and details would be announced within three days.

The release of the prisoners gave Trump a chance to tout a diplomatic achievement just a day after his decision to pull out of the Iran nuclear deal drew heavy criticism from European allies and others.

“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Trump wrote on Twitter.

“I appreciate Kim Jong Un doing this and allowing them to go,” Trump told reporters at the White House.

The three men are Korean-American missionary Kim Dong-chul, detained in 2015; Kim Sang-duk, also known as Tony Kim, who spent a month teaching at the foreign-funded Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) before he was arrested in 2017; and Kim Hak-song, who also taught at PUST and was detained last year.

“We would like to express our deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States for bringing us home,” the three said in a statement released by the State Department as their plane stopped over in Alaska.

“We thank God, and all our families and friends who prayed for us and for our return. God Bless America, the greatest nation in the world.”

North Korean state media said they were arrested either for subversion or “hostile acts” against the government.

U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said that while there was “reason for some optimism” about the Kim-Trump summit, the U.S. troop presence in South Korea would not be part of initial negotiations.

There was also no sign that Pompeo’s visit had cleared up the question of whether North Korea would be willing to bargain away nuclear missiles that might threaten the United States.

Trump has credited his “maximum pressure” campaign for drawing North Korea to the table and has vowed to keep sanctions in place until Pyongyang takes concrete steps to denuclearize.

But former spy chief Kim Yong Chul, director of North Korea’s United Front Department, said in a toast to Pompeo over lunch in Pyongyang: “We have perfected our nuclear capability. It is our policy to concentrate all efforts into economic progress ... This is not the result of sanctions that have been imposed from outside.”

Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at Center for Strategic and International Studies, said that while the release was not an explicit precondition for the Trump-Kim meeting, the North Koreans understood that they had to do it for any progress to be made.

“The North Koreans have still said nothing to indicate that they are willing to give up their nuclear weapons, not to mention permanently and verifiably dismantle their nuclear programmes,” she said.

“We have no clarity about Kim’s intentions.”

Pompeo will now meet South Korea’s foreign minister, Kang Kyung-wha, on Friday to prepare for Trump’s meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-In on May 22 and his later meeting with Kim, the South Korean foreign ministry said.</s>Three American citizens detained in North Korea have been released, according to a tweet by President Donald Trump.

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who went to North Korea to finalize plans for a historic summit between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, will be landing at Andrews Air Force base with the three at 2 a.m., Trump tweeted. – READ MORE</s>North Korea frees three US detainees ahead of Trump summit

North Korea has freed three American detainees, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday, hailing a diplomatic victory ahead of a planned summit with Kim Jong Un.

Pyongyang granted the three men “amnesty,” a US official said, and they are now on their way back to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Two of the men, agricultural expert Kim Hak-song and former professor Tony Kim were arrested in 2017, while Kim Dong-chul, a South Korea-born American businessman and pastor in his 60s, was sentenced to 10 years’ hard labor in 2016.

“I am pleased to inform you that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting. They seem to be in good health,” Trump tweeted.

The White House said all three men were able to walk unassisted onto a US Air Force plane that carried them and the secretary of state out of North Korea.

A second plane, with more robust medical equipment, waited for them at Yokota Air Force Base, just outside Tokyo.

“All indications are their health is as good as could be given they been through,” said Pompeo.

The family of Tony Kim voiced their gratitude to “all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home” — and specifically thanking Trump for “engaging directly with North Korea.”

“Mostly, we thank God for Tony’s safe return,” the family said in a statement. “We ask that you continue to pray for the people of North Korea and for the release of all who are still being held.”

Trump meanwhile described the release as “a gesture of good will” and said he would be on hand when Pompeo’s three “guests” land at Andrews Air Force Base outside Washington at 2:00 am (0600 GMT) Thursday.

Trump acolytes declared the release an unbridled political victory, evidence, Vice President Mike Pence said, that “strong leadership and our America First policies are paying dividends.”

The men’s release appears to pave the way for a much-anticipated summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim, scheduled to take place within weeks.

Summit details to follow

 Trump says a time, date and location have been decided for that historic summit, although US officials say there are still some details to be worked out.

Pompeo told reporters the administration would “in the next handful of days be able to announce date and time.”

Possible locations include Singapore and the Demilitarized Zone that separates North and South Korea.

The meeting will discuss North Korea’s nuclear and ballistic weapons program, which may soon give Pyongyang the capability of striking the continental United States.

Trump has demanded that North Korea give up its nukes, while Kim has offered few indications about what he is willing to concede or what he will demand in return.

North Korea has often insisted that the United States withdraw support for South Korea, where 30,000-plus US military personnel are stationed.

Since coming to office Trump has embarked on a campaign of “maximum pressure” on the North Korean regime.

A series of provocative North Korean missile tests have been met with US sanctions and a tougher Chinese stance on cross border trade.

Officials in Washington believe the punitive economic measures have prompted fuel shortages in North Korea and increased tension inside the regime.

North Korea official Kim Yong Chul, who met Pompeo in Pyongyang, insisted the country’s openness to talks was “not the result of sanctions that have been imposed from outside,” but a change in regime focus.

“We have perfected our nuclear capability. It is our policy to concentrate all efforts into economic progress in country,” he said.

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This post was syndicated from The Guardian Nigeria Newspaper – Nigeria and World News. Click here to read the full text on the original website.</s>WASHINGTON — Secretary of State Mike Pompeo offered economic help Friday to impoverished North Korea if it gives up its nuclear weapons, as the two countries prepare for an historic summit between President Donald Trump and leader Kim Jong Un.

A day after returning from a trip to Pyongyang, Pompeo said he had "good" and "substantive" conversations with Kim during his visit, in which he secured the release of three Americans who had been detained in North Korea. In a joint news conference with South Korea's top diplomat, he offered a glimpse of what U.S.-North Korean relations could look like if they succeed in reaching a nuclear accord.

"If North Korea takes bold action to quickly denuclearize, the United States is prepared to work with North Korea to achieve prosperity on the par with our South Korean friends," Pompeo said.

Since Trump announced plans to hold a summit with Kim, questions have been raised continually about whether the two leaders have the same objective in mind when they speak about "denuclearization." To the U.S., that means the North giving up the nuclear weapons it has already built. But North Korea has said it's willing to talk now because it's already succeeded in becoming a nuclear-armed state, fueling skepticism that the North would truly being willing to give those weapons up.

Pompeo said there would need to be "complete" and "verifiable" denuclearization, suggesting it would involve inspections to ensure the North's compliance.

"I think there is complete agreement about what the ultimate objectives are," Pompeo said, though he declined to offer more detail.

South Korean Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha praised the upcoming meeting between Trump and Kim as an "historic" opportunity, but added a few notes of skepticism as well. Amid concerns that North Korea will demand the U.S. withdraw its troops from neighboring South Korea, Kang emphasized that the U.S. military presence there must be "a matter for the U.S.-ROK alliance first and foremost," using an acronym for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

She said the U.S. troop presence in the South for the past 65 years plays a "crucial role for deterrence," peace and stability on the Korean peninsula. Therefore, she said, any change in the size of the U.S. forces in the South Korea should not be on the table at the summit.

"The next few weeks will be critical, requiring air-tight coordination between our two countries," Kang said.</s>WASHINGTON (AP) — The Latest on Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and the release of three Americans from North Korea (all times local):

President Donald Trump is hailing the release of three Americans detained in North Korea as they make their way back home.

Trump says as he kicks off a Cabinet meeting at the White House that he "appreciates" North Korean leader Kim Jong Un's decision to release the detainees ahead of the leaders' planned summit.

He says he's looking forward to the meeting and believes it's going to be a great thing for North Korea.

Trump broke the news on Twitter earlier Wednesday that the detainees were on their way back to the U.S. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Trump said he would be greeting them at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 a.m. Thursday.

He says of the arrival: "I think it will be a very special time."

Senate Majority Leader Mitch McConnell is welcoming North Korea's release of three Americans as a hopeful sign ahead of President Donald Trump's meeting with leader Kim Jong Un.

The Kentucky Republican says he's hopeful that "by approaching our ongoing negotiations with clear eyes, we can build on this progress and pursue a verifiable agreement to dismantle North Korea's nuclear arms."

McConnell spoke Wednesday as he opened the Senate.

Earlier in the day, Trump announced that the three detainees were on their way back to the United States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.

Pompeo was briefly in the country this week making plans for the leaders' upcoming summit.

The White House says President Donald Trump views North Korea's release of three American citizens "as a positive gesture of goodwill."

White House press secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders says the three Americans "appear to be in good condition" and says they were "able to walk on the plane without assistance."

Trump announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was on his way back from North Korea with the three American detainees.

Sanders says, "All Americans look forward to welcoming them home and to seeing them reunited with their loved ones."

Secretary of State Mike Pompeo says he had a "good, lengthy" conversation with North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un and that a date and time for a summit with President Donald Trump has been set.

After departing Pyongyang Wednesday, Pompeo said the summit details will be announced "in the next handful of days." He said the two sides need to coordinate in the days ahead on setting conditions for a successful meeting.

Pompeo says the three American detainees freed as a goodwill gesture seem to be in good health "given all they have been through."

Pompeo was on the ground in North Korea for 13 hours. That included a 90-minute meeting with Kim — their second meeting in little more than a month.

Pompeo spoke to reporters during a stop-over in Japan on his way back to the U.S.

Vice President Mike Pence says the U.S. "will not let off the pressure" on North Korea "until we achieve full denuclearization."

Pence says President Donald Trump's "tough minded diplomacy" has led to the release of three Americans detained in North Korea.

Trump announced Wednesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo was returning from North Korea with the three Americans.

Pence says Pompeo did a "remarkable job" overseeing their release and calls it a "proud and memorable moment for America."

A U.S. official says that "substantial progress" has been made on plans for a U.S.-North Korean leadership summit during Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit to Pyongyang.

While Pompeo met with top North Korean leaders, including Kim Jong Un, lower-level officials from the two countries were planning the nuts-and-bolts logistics for a meeting between Kim and President Donald Trump.

The U.S. official, who was involved in those talks, said the two sides would meet once again to finalize the details.

No specifics were offered although other officials said Singapore is emerging as the most likely venue. The unprecedented meeting has been slated for this month or early June.

Before seeing Kim, Pompeo met twice with the head of the North's United Front department that oversees relations between North and South Korea.

The family of one of the Americans freed from North Korea is expressing gratitude for his release.

The family of 59-year-old Tony Kim is thanking "all of those who have worked toward and contributed to his return home." In a statement, the family credited President Donald Trump for engaging directly with North Korea.

"Mostly, we thank God for Tony's safe return," the statement said. It added that the family appreciates "the support and prayers of friends and even strangers during this challenging year."

The statement was forwarded to The Associated Press by Randall Brandt, a spokesman for the family, shortly after Trump announced Wednesday that three Americans were coming home.

The statement urged people to "continue to pray for the people of North Korea and for the release of all who are still being held."

President Donald Trump says Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is on his way back from North Korea with three American detainees, saying they "seem to be in good health."

Trump made the announcement on Twitter Wednesday, saying "Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in the air and on his way back from North Korea with the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting."

Trump added that Pompeo had a "good meeting" with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.

Trump is planning a historic summit with the North Korean leader.

In another Tweet, Trump said Pompeo and the detainees will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 a.m. Thursday. He says "I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!"

U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is in North Korea to finalize plans for a historic summit between President Donald Trump and the North's leader, Kim Jong Un.

U.S. officials say Pompeo will also be pressing North Korea for the release of three detained American citizens, whose imminent release Trump has been hinting at.

The trip is Pompeo's second to North Korea this year. It had not been publicly disclosed when he flew out of Washington under cover of darkness late Monday aboard an Air Force 757.

Trump announced the mission Tuesday afternoon as he laid out the case for withdrawing from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, another bitter U.S. adversary.

When the flight arrived Wednesday morning in Pyongyang, North Korean officials were on hand to greet Pompeo.</s>WASHINGTON >> Three Americans detained in North Korea for more than a year are on their way back to the U.S. with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, President Donald Trump announced Wednesday in the latest sign of improving relations between the two longtime adversary nations.

Trump said on Twitter that Pompeo was “in the air” and was with “the 3 wonderful gentlemen that everyone is looking so forward to meeting.” The president, who had been hinting about an imminent release, said he would greet them at Andrews Air Force Base at 2 a.m. Thursday.

The release of the detainees came as Pompeo visited North Korea on Wednesday to finalize plans for a historic summit between Trump and the North’s leader, Kim Jong Un. Trump said on Twitter that there had been a “good meeting with Kim Jong Un,” adding: “Date & Place set.”

North Korea had accused Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim, all Korean-Americans, of anti-state activities but their arrests were widely seen as politically motivated and had compounded the dire state of relations over the isolated nation’s nuclear weapons.

The family of Tony Kim thanked “all those” who worked for his return and also credited Trump for engaging directly with North Korea. “Mostly we thank God for Tony’s safe return,” the family said in a statement, and they urged people to “continue to pray for the people of North Korea and for the release of all who are still being held.”

White House spokeswoman Sarah Huckabee Sanders said in a statement that Trump viewed the release “as a positive gesture of goodwill.”

Their release capped a dramatic day of diplomacy in Pyongyang for Pompeo. After his 90-minute meeting with Kim Yong Chol, vice chairman of the central committee of North Korea’s ruling party, he gave reporters a fingers-crossed sign as he returned to his hotel. But it was only after a North Korean emissary arrived a bit later that the release was confirmed.

The three had been held for periods ranging between one and two years. They were the latest in a series of Americans who have been detained by North Korea in recent years for seemingly small offenses and typically freed when senior U.S. officials or statesmen personally visited to bail them out.

The last American to be released before this, college student Otto Warmbier, died in June 2017, days after he was repatriated to the U.S. with severe brain damage.

Warmbier was arrested by North Korean authorities in January 2016. He was accused of stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years in prison with hard labor. His parents have filed a wrongful death lawsuit, accusing the government of torturing and killing their son.

Of the newly released detainees, Kim Dong Chul, a South Korean-born U.S. citizen, had been held the longest. The former Virginia resident was sentenced in April 2016 to 10 years in prison with hard labor after being convicted of espionage. He reportedly ran a trade and hotel service company in Rason, a special economic zone on North Korea’s border with Russia.

The other two detainees hadn’t been tried.

Kim Hak Song worked in agricultural development at an experimental farm run by the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, or PUST. The university is the only privately funded college in North Korea and was founded in 2010 with donations from Christian groups. He was detained last May for alleged anti-state activities.

Tony Kim, who also uses the name Kim Sang-duk, was detained in April 2017 at the Pyongyang airport. He taught accounting at PUST. He was accused of committing unspecified criminal acts intended to overthrow the government.

Pompeo, in his visit, discussed the agenda for a potential Trump-Kim Jong Un summit in his meeting with Kim Yong Chol, the official with the central committee of North Korea’s ruling party.

A U.S. official said that “substantial progress” has been made on plans for a summit. The two sides plan to meet once again to finalize the details.

No specifics were offered although other officials said Singapore is emerging as the most likely venue. The unprecedented meeting has been slated for this month or early June.

Vice Chairman Kim also noted improved relations between North and South Korea and pushed back against the idea that U.S. pressure led to the likely summit.

“This is not a result of sanctions that have been imposed from outside,” he said. That contradicted Trump, who has said repeatedly that his pressure tactics brought North Korea to the negotiating table.

Pompeo’s trip, his second to North Korea this year, had not been publicly disclosed when he flew out of Washington late Monday aboard an Air Force jetliner. Trump announced the mission Tuesday afternoon as he laid out his case for withdrawing from a landmark nuclear deal with Iran, another bitter U.S. adversary.

Accompanying Pompeo were a few senior aides, a security detail and two journalists — one from The Associated Press and one from The Washington Post.

Pompeo, who first traveled to North Korea as CIA chief in early April, is only the second sitting secretary of state to visit the reclusive nation with which the U.S. is still technically at war. The first was Madeleine Albright, who went in 2000 as part of an unsuccessful bid to arrange a meeting between then-President Bill Clinton and Kim Jong Un’s father, Kim Jong Il.

A Trump-Kim meeting seemed a remote possibility just a few months ago when the two leaders were trading threats and insults over North Korea’s development of nuclear weapons and ballistic missile tests. But momentum for diplomacy built this year as North and South Korea moved to ease tensions, including the North sending a contingent to the Winter Olympics in the South. The Koreas’ leaders’ held their own summit last month.

In March, Trump unexpectedly accepted an offer of talks from Kim after the North Korean dictator agreed to suspend nuclear and missile tests and discuss “denuclearization.” According to South Korea, Kim says he’s willing to give up his nukes if the United States commits to a formal end to the Korean War and pledges not to attack the North.

Kim was quoted by China’s official news agency Xinhua as saying on Monday, “I hope to build mutual trust with the U.S. through dialogue.” He added that a political resolution of tensions on the Korean Peninsula and denuclearization should proceed in stages, with all sides moving in concert.

But his exact demands for relinquishing weapons that his nation spent decades building remain unclear. Previous U.S. efforts to negotiate an end to the North’s nuclear weapons program failed under Presidents Clinton and George W. Bush.

Pompeo and officials traveling with him said the Trump administration would not repeat mistakes of the past, which they described as accepting gradual, incremental and long-term disarmament in exchange for immediate benefits.

Trump has said that withdrawing U.S. forces from South Korea is “not on the table.” Some 28,500 U.S. forces are based in the allied nation, a military presence that has been preserved to deter North Korea since the war ended in 1953 without a peace treaty.

Associated Press writers Jill Colvin and Ken Thomas in Washington contributed to this report.</s>Throughout the first year of his presidency – and even as he campaigned for the office – President Trump’s rhetoric regarding North Korea has been harsh.

He warned earlier this year that America’s nuclear capabilities were “much bigger [and] more powerful” than that of the Asian nation. And at the end of 2017, Trump designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror again – a classification that came with additional sanctions.

But on the heels of a planned, historic summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump’s tone has softened, saying “great progress” has been made.

From agreeing to meet with Kim to dubbing him “Little Rocket Man,” here’s a look at what Trump has said about North Korea and its leader over time.

In announcing that a date and place has been set for his much-anticipated meeting with Kim, Trump also confirmed three American prisoners have been released.

The three Americans – Kim Dong Chul, Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song – are returning to the U.S. with newly-confirmed Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, Trump said in a tweet. The president confirmed the three men are also in “good health.”

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said in a statement that Trump “appreciates Kim Jong Un’s action to release these American citizens, and views this as a positive gesture of goodwill.”

Another American detainee, Otto Warmbier, died in June 2017 after he was released back to the U.S. with severe brain damage.

Trump has confirmed that CIA Director Mike Pompeo – his pick to lead the State Department – secretly met with Kim in April and a “good relationship was formed.” He said the meeting “went very smoothly.”

The president also disclosed that the U.S. and North Korea have held direct talks at “extremely high levels” in preparation for the summit.

Kim ‘will do what is right’

After Kim’s first reported visit to China, Trump said “there is a good chance that Kim Jong Un will do what is right for his people and for humanity.”

“For years and through many administrations, everyone said that peace and the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula was not even a small possibility,” Trump said in a March tweet, adding that he is looking forward to his upcoming meeting with the North Korean leader.

He also gave North Korea the benefit of the doubt earlier that month, saying he believes the country will abide by its pledge to suspend missile tests.

When Trump delivered a speech in Pennsylvania, the crowd booed the mention of Kim, but the president stopped them.

“No, it's very positive ... no, after the meeting you may do that, but now we have to be very nice because let's see what happens, let's see what happens,” Trump said.

Trump accepted an invitation from Kim to meet, the White House said. While a time and place has yet to be determined, the two leaders are expected to meet by June.

The invitation to convene was extended by Kim.

“Kim Jong Un talked about denuclearization with the South Korean Representatives, not just a freeze. Also, no missile testing by North Korea during this period of time. Great progress being made but sanctions will remain until an agreement is reached,” Trump said on social media. “Meeting being planned!”

“The deal with North Korea is very much in the making and will be, if completed, a very good one for the World. Time and place to be determined,” he later said.

As North Korea is reportedly willing to negotiate its nuclear weapons, Trump cautiously acknowledged “possible progress.”

“For the first time in many years, a serious effort is being made by all parties concerned,” Trump said on Twitter. “The World is watching and waiting! May be false hope, but the U.S. is ready to go hard in either direction!”

At a later White House news conference, Trump said he believed North Korea, which has a long history of deception and threats to target U.S. cities with nuclear missiles, is “sincere.”

“We have come certainly a long way, at least rhetorically, with North Korea,” Trump said. Of the possibility for peacefully resolving the nations’ deep differences, he said: “It’d be a great thing for the world, would be great for North Korea, it would be a great thing for the peninsula.”

“But we’ll see what happens,” Trump said.

At the conclusion of the 2018 Winter Olympics, North Korea sent the U.S. a message through South Korea, saying it has “ample intentions” of holding talks with America.

During a meeting with the nation’s governors at the White House in February, Trump said those talks will only occur “under the right conditions.”

The administration’s position has been that North Korea must get rid of its nuclear and missile programs first before any talks can take place.

In an interview with the Wall Street Journal, Trump reportedly said he “probably” has a “very good relationship” with North Korea.

Trump also suggested that he is open to diplomacy with the country he’s spent years criticizing, the newspaper reported.

“I have relationships with people. I think you people are surprised,” Trump said.

The Wall Street Journal released the audio and transcript of the interview after Trump denied making the comments.

Trump told South Korea that he would be open to talks with its northern neighbor “under the right circumstances,” the White House said.

Trump also took credit for the talks between North and South Korea ahead of next month’s Winter Olympics. At a January Cabinet meeting, Trump said it was his administration’s pressure on North Korea that caused the rogue nation to negotiate with the South.

"Without our attitude that would have never happened," Trump said of the inter-Korean dialogue. "Who knows where it leads. Hopefully it will lead to success for the world — not just for our country but for the world, and we'll be seeing over the next number of weeks and months what happens."

After Kim warned Trump about North Korea’s nuclear capabilities, Trump hit back on social media, arguing that his “Nuclear Button” is “bigger [and] more powerful.”

“North Korean Leader Kim Jong Un just stated that the 'Nuclear Button is on his desk at all times,'” the president tweeted. “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”

Kim previously warned the U.S. “should know that the button for nuclear war is on my table.”

“The entire area of the U.S. mainland is within our nuclear strike range,” he said. “The United States can never start a war against me and our country.”

Trump insinuated at the start of the new year that sanctions and additional “pressures” are having a “big impact on North Korea.”

“Soldiers are dangerously fleeing to South Korea,” Trump said. Kim “now wants to talk to South Korea for the first time. Perhaps that is good news, perhaps not – we will see!”

In his tweet, Trump was seemingly referring to the recent, dramatic escape of at least two North Korean soldiers across the heavily militarized border into the southern country He also alluded to Kim’s recent comments indicating he would send a delegation to the Winter Olympics to be hosted in South Korea.

Trump also took credit for the talks between North and South Korean leaders.

“With all of the failed ‘experts’ weighing in, does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn’t firm, strong and willing to commit our total ‘might’ against the North,” Trump said in a Jan. 4 tweet. “Fools, but talks are a good thing!”

While giving a speech on tax reform at a Missouri event in November, 2017, Trump digressed from the topic to call the North Korean leader a "sick puppy."

His comments drew hoots from the crowd.

Trump re-designated North Korea a state sponsor of terror on Nov. 20, 2017, citing its support of “international terrorism, including assassinations on foreign soil.”

During a Cabinet meeting, Trump announced the designation came along with new sanctions on the “murderous regime” as part of the administration’s “maximum pressure campaign” in dealing with North Korea. He said these sanctions will be “the highest level of sanctions” on the North.

North Korea was on the list but was taken off by the Bush administration in 2008.

Why can't we be friends?

In a series of tweets while in Vietnam, Trump said he doesn't know why the North Korean dictator would "insult" him.

“Why would Kim Jong-un insult me by calling me ‘old,’ when I would NEVER call him ‘short and fat?’” Trump said. “Oh well, I try so hard to be his friend - and maybe someday that will happen!”

The comment came after Kim referred to Trump's speech in South Korea as “reckless remarks by an old lunatic.”

In Asia, Trump issued a stern warning to North Korea, saying it would be a “fatal miscalculation” for the country to attack the U.S. or an ally.

“This is a very different administration than the United States has had in the past. Do not underestimate us. And do not try us,” Trump said during an address at South Korea’s National Assembly.

While on his Asia trip, Trump implored North Korea to “come to the table” for talks on its nuclear weapons program. Trump’s request for North Korea to “make a deal” was in stark contrast to his previous hardline rhetoric when it comes to the rogue nation.

"It makes sense for North Korea to come to the table and make a deal that is good for the people of North Korea and for the world," Trump said during a news conference alongside South Korean president Moon Jae-in in November 2017.

Trump also said he’s seen “a lot of progress” in dealing with North Korea but still called the country a “worldwide threat.”

In a joint news conference with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe in Tokyo the day before, Trump repeated his assertion that the “era of strategic patience” with North Korea was finished.

“Some people say my rhetoric is very strong but look what has happened with very weak rhetoric in the last 25 years,” Trump said then.

After dubbing him “Rocket Man” in a tweet, Trump eventually tried out the new nickname for Kim during his inaugural address to the U.N. General Assembly.

During his speech, Trump vowed to “totally destroy North Korea” if the country so provokes him. He also said Kim was “on a suicide mission.”

After North Korea said it successfully launched a missile over Japan, a U.S. ally, and into the Pacific Ocean, Trump initially had a subdued response.

"Threatening and destabilizing actions only increase the North Korean regime's isolation in the region and among all nations of the world," Trump said in a written statement after North Korea’s missile soared almost 1,700 miles into the Pacific Ocean, triggering alert warnings in northern Japan and shudders throughout Northeast Asia. "All options are on the table."

The missile launch was said to be a “precursor” to North Korea’s containment of the U.S. territory of Guam by Kim, according to state-run media.

But in a tweet, the president suggested the U.S. is finished “talking” to North Korea.

“The U.S. has been talking to North Korea, and paying them extortion money, for 25 years. Talking is not the answer,” Trump tweeted.

The U.S. is 'locked and loaded'

Trump took to social media in August 2017 to proclaim that the U.S. military is “locked and loaded” in case “North Korea act[s] unwisely.”

With the threat of nuclear violence growing, Trump warned North Korea on Aug. 8, 2017 that he would unleash “fire, fury and frankly power, the likes of which this world has never seen before.”

But when tensions continued to rise and North Korea threatened to attack Guam, Trump said maybe that comment wasn’t "tough enough."

"Let’s see what [Kim] does with Guam. He does something in Guam, it will be an event the likes of which nobody has seen before – what will happen in North Korea," Trump said.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson said Trump was "sending a strong message to North Korea in language that Kim Jong Un can understand, because he doesn’t seem to understand diplomatic language."

Kim Jong Un is 'not getting away with it'

Trump said Kim has “disrespected our country greatly.”

“He has said things that are horrific. And with me, he’s not getting away with it,” Trump said. “He got away with it for a long time, between him and his family. He’s not getting away with it. It’s a whole new ball game.”

After meeting with the South Korean president in Washington, D.C., in June 2017, Trump said that the “era of strategic patience with the North Korean regime has failed.”

“Frankly, that patience is over,” he said.

As Trump made these comments, the U.S. was rocked with the death of Otto Warmbier, the 22-year-old American college student who suffered extensive brain damage while being held captive in North Korea for more than a year.

There are 'worse things' than assassinating Kim Jong Un

In an interview with CBS News during the presidential campaign, Trump said he could “get China to make [Kim Jong Un] disappear in one form or another very quickly.”

When asked if he was talking about assassinating the North Korean dictator, Trump shrugged.

“Well, you know, I’ve heard of worse things, frankly. I mean, this guy’s a bad dude – and don’t underestimate him,” Trump said. “Any young guy that can take over from his father with all those generals and everybody else that probably wants the position, this is not somebody to be underestimated.”

'What the hell is wrong with speaking?'

Trump told supporters at a campaign rally in Atlanta that should Kim want to come to the U.S., he would be “accept[ed].”

“I wouldn’t go there, that I can tell you. If he came here, I’d accept him, but I wouldn’t give him a state dinner like we do for China and all these other people that rip us off when we give them these big state dinners,” Trump said in June 2016.

“What the hell is wrong with speaking?” Trump said, referencing the criticism he received for being willing to talk with North Korea. “It’s called opening a dialogue.”

During a GOP presidential debate in September 2015, Trump railed on the “maniac” in North Korea while answering a question about Planned Parenthood and women’s health issues.

“Nobody ever mentions North Korea, where you have this maniac sitting there, and he actually has nuclear weapons and somebody better start thinking about North Korea and perhaps a couple of other places. But certainly North Korea,” Trump said.

“You have somebody right now in North Korea who has got nuclear weapons and who is saying almost every other week, ‘I’m ready to use them,’ and we don’t even mention it,” he continued.

China needs to solve the problem

Even before he was president, Trump urged China to step in and help alleviate problems with North Korea.

“North Korea is reliant on China. China could solve this problem easily if they wanted to but they have no respect for our leaders,” Trump tweeted in March 2013.

In April 2013, Trump continued that line of thinking, adding that “North Korea can’t survive, or even eat, without the help of China.” He then accused China of “taunting” the U.S.

As president, Trump has said he is “very disappointed” in actions China has taken regarding North Korea, particularly “allowing oil to go into” the nation. He also said a Chinese envoy to North Korea “had no impact” on Kim.

Additionally, Trump has said he’s spoken to China’s President Xi Jinping regarding the “provocative actions of North Korea” as well as the planned meeting between Trump and Kim.

“President Xi told me he appreciates that the U.S. is working to solve the problem diplomatically rather than going with the ominous alternative,” Trump said in March 2018. “China continues to be helpful!”

In April 2013, Trump urged then-President Barack Obama to “be very careful” with the “28-year-old wack job in North Korea.”

“At some point we may have to get very tough,” he tweeted.

Trump warned that the U.S. needed to “do something to stop” North Korea in 1999 during an interview with the late Tim Russert on “Meet the Press.”

"Do you want to do it in five years when they have warheads all over the place, every one of them pointing to New York City, to Washington and every one of us, is that when you want to do it, or do you want to do something now?” Trump said. “You'd better do it now. And if they think you're serious … they'll negotiate and it'll never come to that.”

He said then that if he ever became president, the first step he would take would be to “negotiate like crazy” to make sure that the country would “get the best deal possible.” Trump also predicted then that in “three or four years,” North Korea would have weapons aimed all over the world, including at the U.S.

Fox News' Adam Shaw and The Associated Press contributed to this report.</s>North Korea has released three American hostages ahead of planned talks between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, according to The Washington Post .

The detainees are now traveling back to the States with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo , who was visiting the country in preparation for Trump’s meeting with Kim. Trump tweeted on May 9 that Pompeo was returning to the U.S. with “3 wonderful gentlemen” who appear to be "in good health."

The three men, of Korean descent, were suspected to be the last American hostages left in North Korea, according to The New York Times .

Francisco Bencosme, advocacy manager for the Asia Pacific at Amnesty International USA, said in a statement emailed to Teen Vogue that Trump must urge North Korea to respect human rights during his summit with Kim.

“While we welcome the release of three individuals, we remain concerned over the fate of up to 120,000 North Koreans who remain confined in political prison camps,” Bencosme said. “No one should languish behind bars without being given a fair trial.” (In June 2017, 22-year-old American student Otto Warmbier died shortly after returning to the U.S. Warmbier was held for 17 months in North Korea and sentenced to hard labor before he was released, according to Reuters .)

Vox reported that one of the three detainees returning home Thursday was taken during Obama’s presidency, and the other two were detained during Trump’s time in office.

The move by Kim to release the detainees comes as a shift in relations between North Korea and the U.S after Trump called Kim “little rocket man” and threatened to “totally destroy North Korea” just last year, with Kim retorting by calling the president a “mentally deranged U.S. dotard.”

Kim and South Korean President Moon Jae-in agreed to remove nuclear weapons from the Korean Peninsula in April. Kim also pledged that North Korea would shut down its main nuclear testing location and stop its nuclear-weapons and long-range-missile tests.

“The nuclear test site has done its job,” Mr. Kim said in a statement released to the media in April.

On May 3, White House Press Secretary Sarah Huckabee Sanders said the hostages' release would indicate “a sign of goodwill” before talks between Trump and Kim.

Yoon Young-chan, a spokesman for South Korean President Moon, praised the release of the Americans, saying it was “very positive for a successful North Korean-United States summit.”

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Want more from Teen Vogue ? Check this out: Otto Warmbier May Have Suffered Cardiopulmonary Arrest</s>Trump Meets 3 Americans Held In North Korea As They Return To U.S.

Updated at 3:30 a.m. ET

Three American men who had been held by North Korea touched U.S. soil once again early Thursday, where they were met by President Trump, who has hailed his diplomacy with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for winning their freedom.

The trio — Kim Dong Chul, Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim – all held on charges of espionage, arrived at Andrews Air Force Base just outside of Washington, D.C. at about 2:40 a.m. ET. Their plane taxied to the meeting area, where a giant American flag was suspended over the tarmac.

Shortly after the president and first lady went aboard the plane carrying the freed detainees, they emerged with the president, smiling and waving to cheers and applause from military personnel at the base.

"I want to thank Kim Jong Un," Trump said on the tarmac.

"I'm very honored to have helped the three folks," he said.

Trump said Kim was "nice" for letting the three free before a summit planned between the two leaders, which he said would occur "in a few weeks."

Welcoming the detainees home, he called it "a special night for these three people."

One of the three, who appeared to be Kim Dong Chul, spoke for the group, saying "It's like a dream and we are very, very happy."

Asked how they were treated in North Korea, he responded through an interpreter, "in many, many ways. For me, it was labor, but when I was sick, they treated me."

The three arrived shortly after an official plane carrying Secretary of State Mike Pompeo — who negotiated the release — touched down. They met the president and First Lady Melania Trump, who boarded their plane, as well as Vice President Mike Pence, Second Lady Karen Pence and Pompeo stood at the foot of the stairs.

Earlier, North Korea announced the release. Kim Dong Chul had been jailed since 2015, while the two others were arrested separately in North Korea just over a year ago.

"My proudest part of this will be when we denuclearize North Korea," the president said.

He said of the North Korean leader, "I really think he wants to do something," adding, "I really think a lot of progress has been made."

In a tweet last week, Trump hinting at their impending release, said that "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!" Two of the three – Kim Hak Song and Tony Kim — were detained during Trump's presidency.

Exchanging prisoners for an opening with the West has been a common tactic of Pyongyang over the years. However, typically, the détente has been short lived.

Last year, North Korea released American Otto Warmbier, a university student who was detained at the Pyongyang airport in January 2016 while on a five-day tour of North Korea. He was later convicted of stealing a propaganda poster and sentenced to 15 years hard labor. However, he was released in June 2017, gravely ill and in a coma. He died soon after his return to the United States.

Appearing with the freed Americans on Thursday, Trump said he and Pence had spoken to the family of Warmbier recently.

"I must tell you that I want to pay respects to Otto Warmbier, who was a great man who really suffered," he said.

North Korea also freed U.S. citizens during visits by former Presidents Bill Clinton, in 2009, and Jimmy Carter, in 2010.

In recent months, increased tensions over North Korea's nuclear and ballistic missile programs led to a barrage of insults between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un as the two openly threatened war.

However, Pyongyang suddenly softened its tone, leading to a flurry of diplomacy, rare talks with South Korea last month and a planned Kim-Trump summit.

The president has hailed the thawing in relations as a diplomatic breakthrough and chalked it up to his hardline stand with Pyongyang.

The release of the Americans is seen as a goodwill gesture by North Korea ahead of those talks.

Trump confirmed the Americans' release on Wednesday morning, saying the group was airborne.

Later, during a Cabinet meeting, Trump said the three Americans were "fine people" and seemed to be healthy, adding, "I appreciate Kim Jong Un doing this and allowing them to go."

For Pompeo, his visit to retrieve the trio was his second surprise trip to North Korea in recent weeks, having traveled there to visit the country's leader in early April while he was CIA director — and before his confirmation as secretary of state.

Pompeo met with the North Korean leader for 90 minutes, flashing a fingers-crossed sign to reporters when asked about the detainees' fate, according to The Associated Press.</s>Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption How to talk to North Korea - advice from three North Korean experts

US President Donald Trump will meet North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on 12 June, he has said.

"We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" the US leader tweeted.

In March, Mr Trump stunned the world by accepting an invitation to meet Mr Kim for an unprecedented sit-down.

The pair had previously exchanged insults and threats. The breakthrough came after landmark talks between North and South Korea.

Mr Trump's announcement came hours after he welcomed home three US detainees released by North Korea.

Their release came during a visit to Pyongyang by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to arrange details of the meeting between Mr Trump and Mr Kim.

No sitting US president has ever met a North Korean leader. The White House said the American trio were freed as a gesture of goodwill ahead of the summit, which Mr Trump earlier said he thought would be a "big success".

"I really think we have a very good chance of doing something very meaningful," he said.

The big question at the centre of the talks

Image copyright KCNA/Reuters

The key issue expected to be discussed is North Korea's nuclear weapons programme - over which Mr Trump and Mr Kim furiously sparred in 2017.

The communist North has carried out six nuclear tests since 2006, despite international condemnation and sanctions, saying it needs the weapons for its own security.

The US wants Pyongyang to give up its weapons programme completely and irreversibly.

Ahead of the meeting, Mr Kim has pledged to stop nuclear tests and intercontinental ballistic missile launches, and also to shut down a nuclear test site.

But analysts caution that Mr Kim is unlikely to easily abandon nuclear weapons that he has pushed so hard to obtain, and that "denuclearisation" means something quite different to both sides.

There has been no word from Pyongyang on what it might specifically offer at the summit, but key issues for the North will be the presence of 30,000 US military personnel in South Korea, and the lifting of sanctions that are choking the economy.

At a summit in April, Kim Jong-un and South Korean President Moon Jae-in vowed to work to rid the peninsula of nuclear weapons, although the means of achieving this were not detailed and previous such pledges have been abandoned.

Still, the dramatic meeting - which saw a North Korean leader setting foot on South Korean soil for the first time since the end of the 1953 Korean War - marked a historic breakthrough between the two countries.

Media playback is unsupported on your device Media caption As seen on (state-run) TV: Mike Pompeo's trip was portrayed with plenty of colour

Why Singapore?

Singapore, a small and highly prosperous island nation, has been used before for high-profile diplomatic occasions.

In 2015, the leaders of China and Taiwan held historic talks in the South East Asian city-state, their first in more than 60 years.

It had been seen by top US officials as a good, neutral choice for the Trump-Kim talks.

The US and Singapore have a close relationship. Singapore has diplomatic ties with North Korea but suspended all trade with the country in November last year as international sanctions were tightened.

Other locations which had been considered for the Trump-Kim summit included Mongolia and the Korean border's demilitarised zone (DMZ).
US President Donald Trump announces that his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un will take place on June 12 in Singapore.