Report: Three U.S. hostages will be released by North Korea during Pompeo visit

A South Korean official reportedly claimed Tuesday that Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is expected to return from North Korea with the three U.S. hostages in captivity.

Here's more from the report

Yonhap News Agency in South Korea reported that a South Korean official told them that Pompeo would return from North Korea with the three hostages.

"We expect him to bring the date, time and the captives," the official said.

Pompeo is on his second trip to North Korea in order to negotiate the details around President Donald Trump's historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un. The highly anticipated meeting will determine whether North Korea will follow through with its claims that they are willing to support a deal for denuclearization of the Korean peninsula.

Kim also met with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in a historic meeting in the Demilitarized Zone in April between the two countries.

Other reports have indicated that the three Americans, Kim Hak-Song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-Chul, have been moved from labor camps and are being prepared for possible release.

'As everybody is aware'

Trump has hinted that his administration was negotiating for the Americans' release.

“Plans are being made. Relationships are building,” Trump said to reporters. “Hopefully, a deal will happen and, with the help of China, South Korea, and Japan, a future of great prosperity and security can be achieved for everyone.”

"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," he tweeted Wednesday.

Critics of the president noted that two of the three hostages were captured during his term, meaning that he misleadingly claimed the previous administration failed to free those two.

"Stay tuned!" he tweeted.