Washington, D.C. – House Foreign Affairs Committee Chairman Ed Royce (R-CA) issued the following statement on North Korea’s release of three American hostages:

“I join all Americans in welcoming Tony Kim, Kim Hak-song and Kim Dong-chul home. We all celebrate their return. These fellow citizens and their families have endured incredible fear and suffering because of the North Korean regime. This is the same regime that killed Otto Warmbier, keeps 120,000 North Koreans in barbaric prison camps and has threatened the U.S. and our allies with nuclear holocaust.

“The Trump administration deserves credit for scrapping President Obama’s failed ‘strategic patience’ and working with Congress to apply maximum pressure against Kim Jong Un. We’ve made important progress over the last few months, but we can’t let up. The North Korean regime can never be trusted. We must keep applying pressure on Kim Jong Un if we’re going to peacefully end North Korea’s threats.”

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