Summit set for Singapore

US President Donald Trump yesterday announced his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will take place in Singapore on June 12.

"We will both try to make it a very special moment for World Peace!" Trump said in a tweeted announcement.

The location and date of the summit -- the first ever between a sitting US president and a North Korean leader -- were revealed hours after three American prisoners were released by North Korea and arrived back in the United States.

Officials said that step removed the last major obstacle to the nuclear-focused summit, providing Trump with tangible evidence that his policy of engagement was reaping rewards.

The small Southeast Asian city state of Singapore has long acted as a bridge between the United States and China.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un hailed the planned meeting with US President Donald Trump as a "historic" opportunity during talks with America's top diplomat Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang, according to state media yesterday.

Kim, who is at the centre of a whirlwind of diplomacy as the international community looks to curtail the North's nuclear programme, said his summit with Trump "would be a historic meeting" and an "excellent first step".

He said it would help towards improving the situation on the Korean peninsula and the "building of a good future", in comments published on North Korea's official KCNA news agency.

Kim said he had granted "amnesty" to the three men "who have been detained in the DPRK for their anti-DPRK hostilities", according to KCNA.

Meanwhile, Trump greeted three Americans released by North Korea at an air base near Washington early yesterday.

Trump and first lady Melania made the short helicopter ride from the White House to Joint Base Andrews to personally welcome Kim Hak-song, Tony Kim and Kim Dong-chul back to the United States, after their release.