U.S. officials have indicated that North Korea could soon release three detained Americans.
Former New York mayor Rudy Giuliani, a member of President Donald Trump's legal team, said the Americans are expected to be freed Thursday.
"We got Kim Jong Un impressed enough to be releasing three prisoners today," Giluiani told Fox news.
Trump hinted at an imminent release in a Tweet Wednesday night. "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. Stay tuned!" he wrote.
Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un have agreed to meet face to face, although the date and location have not yet been determined.
Three Korean-Americans currently are imprisoned in North Korea. Tony Kim and Kim Hak Song were teaching at the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology, the only private university in the country. They were separately detained in 2017, and accused of participating in anti-state activities and trying to overthrow the government.
The third detainee, Kim Dong Chul, was arrested in Rason on the northeast tip of North Korea in October 2015. He was sentenced to 10 years in prison with hard labor in 2016 after being convicted of espionage.
State Department correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this report.
