Pompeo Will Return From North Korea With Three American Captives

This picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken and released on January 1, 2018 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering a New Year's speech at an undisclosed location. Kim Jo... This picture from North Korea's official Korean Central News Agency (KCNA) taken and released on January 1, 2018 shows North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un delivering a New Year's speech at an undisclosed location. Kim Jong-Un vowed North Korea would mass-produce nuclear warheads and missiles in a defiant New Year message on January 1 suggesting he would continue to accelerate a rogue weapons programme that has stoked international tensions. / AFP PHOTO / KCNA VIA KNS / - / South Korea OUT / REPUBLIC OF KOREA OUT ---EDITORS NOTE--- RESTRICTED TO EDITORIAL USE - MANDATORY CREDIT "AFP PHOTO/KCNA VIA KNS" - NO MARKETING NO ADVERTISING CAMPAIGNS - DISTRIBUTED AS A SERVICE TO CLIENTS THIS PICTURE WAS MADE AVAILABLE BY A THIRD PARTY. AFP CAN NOT INDEPENDENTLY VERIFY THE AUTHENTICITY, LOCATION, DATE AND CONTENT OF THIS IMAGE. THIS PHOTO IS DISTRIBUTED EXACTLY AS RECEIVED BY AFP. / (Photo credit should read -/AFP/Getty Images) MORE LESS

May 9, 2018 8:51 a.m.

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Freshly sworn-in Secretary of State Mike Pompeo will return to the U.S. early Thursday morning with three Americans who were being held in captivity in North Korea, according to a tweet from the President and reports from several news outlets.

President Trump said the “three wonderful gentlemen” seem to be “in good health.” Pompeo was in North Korea to help prepare for the upcoming summit between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, during which the two leaders plan to discuss the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula. The captives were returned as an apparent gesture of goodwill on Kim’s part ahead of the summit, according to the Washington Post.

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. Also, good meeting with Kim Jong Un. Date & Place set.

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018

Secretary Pompeo and his “guests” will be landing at Andrews Air Force Base at 2:00 A.M. in the morning. I will be there to greet them. Very exciting!

— Donald J. Trump (@realDonaldTrump) May 9, 2018

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Nicole Lafond (@Nicole_Lafond) is TPM’s deputy editor, based in New York. She has also worked as the special projects editor and as a senior newswriter for TPM. She has a master’s degree in journalism from Columbia University and previously covered education in central Illinois.

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