川普歡迎被朝鮮釋放的三名美國公民

U.S. President Donald Trump and Vice President Mike Pence were among those who gathered to greet three Americans freed from detention in North Korea as they arrived early Thursday at Joint Base Andrews just outside of Washington.

The president had predicted "quite a scene," saying their return is "very exciting" because "it represents something very important to this country, people never thought a thing like this could happen."

The plane carrying Tony Kim, Kim Hak Song and Kim Dong Chul arrived just before 3 a.m. local time and parked in front of a giant American flag suspended in the air on the ladders of two firetrucks. Trump and his wife Melania then boarded the plane to speak to the group.

The Korean-Americans had left North Korea on a plane with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo before later transferring to a different plane during a stop in Japan.

In a joint statement released by the State Department late Wednesday, the three men expressed "deep appreciation to the United States government, President Trump, Secretary Pompeo, and the people of the United States" for their return.

While in North Korea, Pompeo met with leader Kim Jong Un for 90 minutes – their second such meeting in little more than a month as Trump and Un prepare to hold a summit.

Trump told reporters at the White House Wednesday the date and location of the summit would be announced within three days, but that it will not occur at the Korean Demilitarized Zone as he had previously suggested as a possible venue.

The Wall Street Journal reported later Wednesday that it appeared Singapore would be the likely summit site.美國總統川普、副總統彭斯和其他一些人星期四早晨在華盛頓近郊的安德魯斯聯合基地迎接了被朝鮮關押剛獲得釋放的3名美國公民。

川普總統此前說：“那會是一個特別的場面”，這三人的回國“令人激動”因爲“這代表着對美國的重大意義，人們想不到這樣的事情會發生”。

載着金相德（Tony Kim）、金學成(Kim Hak-song)和金東哲（Kim Dong Chul）的飛機在華盛頓時間凌晨3點之前降落，滑行到兩輛救火車雲梯懸掛的巨大美國國旗之前。川普總統和夫人梅拉尼亞登上飛機，與三人交談。

這三名韓裔美國公民與蓬佩奧國務卿同機離開朝鮮，然後在日本轉乘另一架飛機返回美國。

美國國務院星期三晚上公佈的一份聯合聲明說，這三人表示，他們得以返回美國，要深深感謝美國政府、川普總統、蓬佩奧國務卿以及美國人民。

蓬佩奧國務卿訪問朝鮮時與金正恩會談了90分鐘。這是一個多月以來蓬佩奧第二次與金正恩會談。川普總統和金正恩正準備舉行峯會。

川普總統星期三在白宮對記者說，峯會的日期和地點將在3天內公佈，但是地點將不會是他曾經表示是可能性之一的朝鮮半島非軍事區。

華爾街日報星期三晚些時候報道，新加坡看來很可能是美朝峯會的地點。