US prisoners released

Three US citizens held prisoner in North Korea, one since 2015, were released on May 10 ahead of a proposed meeting between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The three men were the last US citizens held in North Korea.

Prior to that, the last American to have been released was Otto Warmbier, who was visiting North Korea as a tourist in January 2016. He was arrested at the airport for crimes against the state, reportedly for taking a propaganda poster from his hotel. Warmbier was returned to the US in April 2017 in a vegetative state and died shortly afterward. In response, the US State Department halted all travel to North Korea by US citizens.