U.S.-North Korea summit raises cautious hope among Korean Americans

In an historic moment, Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un shook hands to begin the Singapore summit.

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THE IDEA of a unified Korea is incredibly important to Korean American immigrants. Cautious hope for family reunification and peace are being expressed following the summit between Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
Joon Bang, Executive Director of the Korean American Coalition in Los Angeles, attended a watch party with more than 30 other people.

“You know, it was kind of surreal. It was almost like watching a cartoon. It was really a lot to take in, I think,” Bang said to KABC. “”It was a really emotional experience.”

The prospect of peace on the Korean peninsula is something Tony Choi feels Americans who aren’t Korean don’t fully appreciate.

“You don’t have to be fans of Trump and/or Kim Jong Un to support the Korean peace process,” he told HuffPost. “The majority of the Korean people want the peace talks, and I think a lot of people aren’t respecting that. People feel uncomfortable because of who’s doing it.”

Neither Kim Jong Un and Donald Trump have a very good record in upholding promises or abiding by treaties. 

Trump withdrew from the TPP treaty, wants a redo with NAFTA, strongly critical of the Iran nuclear deal negotiated by the Obama administration and walked away from the Paris accord on climate change.

In Federal Way, Washington, Sara Oh, president of the Federal Way Korean American Association, echoed the feeling that the whole thing is “surreal.”

“The general message is hopeful,” Oh said to the Federal Way Mirror. “It’s something I didn’t think I’d see in my lifetime.”

John Lee is Vice President of the Korean American Association of Chicago. For him, the summit will go a long way in easing political tensions between the North and South.

“We need to relax the tension,” he said to the Daily Journal.

"Reunification isn't about policy," journalist Grace Kahng told KGO-TV, "it's about life or death. If the countries don't reunify and the border isn't opened up, then health care services, food and basic needs will not be met by North Koreans and they will die."

Others point out that the impossible has happened before.

“If West and East Germany can unify, then we can certainly wish that Korea will one day be unified,” said Susan Turner, a Korean American.

Views From the Edge contributed to this report.

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Giuliani, administration walks back on Korean American prisoners in North Korea

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Rudy Giuliani, right, on 'Fox & Friends.'

THERE'S STILL NO WORD about the imminent release of three Korean/Americans being detained in North Korea.

It is beginning to look more and more like the left hand not knowing what the right hand is doing.

Five days ago, on Thursday, Rudy Giuliani's comments and tweets fron Donald Trump seem to infer that the release of the three Korean Americans was almost a done deal and could occur almost immediately.

Giuliani, who had just joined Trump's legal team to handle allegations of a relationship with stripper Stormy Daniels, said Thursday on Fox & Friends that North Korean leader Kim Jong Un would be releasing three American prisoners, inferring that it would happen that same day.

Trump seemed to reinforce this announcement. “As everybody is aware," Trump tweeted, "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!"

But there was no confirmation from either the Trump administration or North Korea.

By Saturday, the former mayor of New York City was backing off on his announcement. He told reporters, "I don't know the status" of the three men held in North Korea and added, "the less said about it right now, the better."

"I'm praying it will get done," he told reporters. "They're working on it. I'm not privy to what they're doing. I'm reading the newspapers like you are."

“Why is Rudy Giuliani talking about issues of national security?” CBS moderator Margaret Brennan asked Kellyanne Conway on Face the Nation Sunday. “He is speaking about the release of three American prisoners from North Korea whose lives are literally on the line.”

“They are,” Conway replied. “And we are very hopeful, but obviously very anxious about hostages abroad –” Conway, Trump's advisor and former campaign manager, couldn't explain why Giuliani made the premature announcement about the detained Korean/Americans, raising the hopes of their relatives.

The State Department finally had to speak up to answer speculation and the false hope raised for the families of the Korean American political prisoners. Giuliani "speaks for himself and not on behalf of the administration on foreign policy," State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert said Monday.

The three Korean/Americans — Kim Hak-Song, also known as Jin Xue Song; Tony Kim, also known as Kim Sang-Duk; and Kim Dong-Chul — were reportedly moved from their prison to a hotel and getting medical treatment ahead of a possible release. They were arrested on charges against the government of Kim Jong-Un.

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North Korea reportedly set to free three Korean American detainees

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Kim Sang Duk, Kim Hak Song and Kim Dong Chul could be released at any moment.

THE UNITED STATES is awaiting confirmation of the possible release of three Korean/Americans imprisoned in North Korea for various charges against the state.
The three men are identified as Kim Sang Duk and Kim Hak Song, both of whom were arrested and charged last year; and Dim Dong Chul, who was arrested in 2015.

State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert said the agency can’t confirm the validity of reports regarding the three American prisoners in North Korea, but noted the safety and security of Americans is the department's top priority.

Nauert said it would be a great “gesture of goodwill” if North Korea did release them, also reiterating the President’s commitment to returning Americans unjustly held overseas.

"I can’t confirm the validity of the reports current out about their release," White House press secretary Sarah Sanders said, adding such a move would be seen as a "sign of goodwill" ahead of a President Trump-Kim Jong Un summit.

The three men, who have reportedly have been moved from their prison to a hotel in the North Korean capitol, Pyongyang, are:

KIM HAK SONG

Kim had been working for the Pyongyang University of Science and Technology (PUST) undertaking agricultural development work with the school's farm, according to the Straits Times.

He was arrested at Pyongyang railway station in May 2017 on suspicion of committing "hostile acts" against the government, as he was boarding a train headed for his home in Dandong, China.

Kim, who is in his mid-50s, was born in Jilin, China, and educated at the University of California-Riverside, CNN reported, citing a man who had studied with him. He became a U.S. citizen in the 2000s but never forgot his roots. "He was a very diligent, hardworking man determined to help people in North Korea," his friend David Kim told CNN.

PUST was founded by evangelical Christians from the United States and opened in 2010, and is known to have a number of American faculty members. Pupils are generally children from the North's elite.

KIM SANG DUK

Also known as Tony Kim, he was arrested in April 2017 at the capital's main airport as he tried to leave the country after teaching for several weeks, also at the Christian-funded PUST.

Kim is a former professor at Yanbian University of Science and Technology in China, close to the Korean border. Its website lists his speciality as accounting.

South Korea's Yonhap news agency reports Kim is in his late 50s and said he had been involved in relief activities for children in rural parts of North Korea. It cited a source who described him as a "religiously devoted man." He supposedly had been volunteering at an orphanage.

In a Facebook post, Kim Sang Duk's son said since his arrest his family has had no contact with him.

KIM DONG CHUL

A South Korea-born American businessman aged in his 60s, he was sentenced to 10 years' hard labor after being arrested on charges of subversion and espionage in April 2016.

He was initially arrested in October 2015, after he reportedly received a USB stick containing nuclear-linked data and other military information from a former North Korean soldier.

In an interview with CNN in January 2016, Kim said he was a naturalized American living in Fairfax, Virginia. He said he once ran a trading and hotel services company in Rason, a special economic zone near the North's border with China and Russia.

A month before his trial, Kim had also appeared at a government-arranged news conference and apologised for attempting to steal military secrets in collusion with South Korea. The South Korean spy agency has denied involvement.

(EDITOR'S NOTE: This is a developing story. Check back later for possible updates.)

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