North Korea announced Friday that it will deport a U.S. citizen that it arrested last month for illegally entering the country, according to NBC News reports.
The Korean Central News Agency said that the man was detained on Oct. 16 for trying to cross into North Korea illegally from China. They did not announce his name or why he was being released.
Kim Jong Un’s country previously released three American prisoners in May just weeks before his summit with President Trump in Singapore.
{mosads}The gesture was perceived well by American diplomats, and North Korea is likely hoping that this will also be the case this time around. Another summit between the two leaders is due to occur in 2019, according to Vice President Pence.
The move this time seems to show that North Korea wants to keep a steady dialogue with the U.S., according to NBC News. In the past, the rogue nation would hold onto Americans arrested on similar charges for an extended period of time.
One such case was American college student Otto Warmbier. Warmbier was in a coma when he was released in 2017 after 17 months of imprisonment. He died shortly after returning to the U.S.