The news of Pompeo’s meeting with Kim, which occurred over Easter weekend (sometime over the end of March and the beginning of April) also raised eyebrows that unlike Clapper, Pompeo went to North Korea and didn’t come back with Americans being held captive by the isolated regime.

“It’s strange to see the nominee for Secretary of State come and go from Pyongyang without securing the release of the three Americans imprisoned there,” said Adam Mount, senior fellow and director of the Defense Posture Project at the Federation of American Scientists, where he covers US nuclear strategy, deterrence and North Korea. “I expect they will be released, but the United States should not pay a price for their freedom.”

There are three Americans currently being held in North Korea. Kim Hak-song and Kim Sang-duk — also known as Tony Kim — were imprisoned in 2017 on suspicion of “hostile acts.” Kim Dong Chul was arrested in 2015 and has been serving a 10-year sentence on espionage charges.