President Trump, right, and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reach to shake hands at their summit in Singapore on June 12, 2018. (Evan Vucci/AP)
The U.S. military is expecting the repatriation of U.S. service members’ remains from North Korea in coming days, officials said Wednesday, a sign of renewed cooperation between the two countries in the wake of President Trump’s summit with Kim Jong Un.
“United Nations Command Korea is planning for the repatriation of the remains of U.S. service members previously recovered by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea,” said Col. Chad Carroll, a spokesman for U.S. forces in Korea. “We owe a profound debt of gratitude to U.S. service members who gave their lives in service to their country and we are working diligently to bring them home.”
As part of Trump’s agreement to address North Korea’s nuclear program, the two nations committed to sending home the remains of U.S. soldiers, “including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.”
Officials said a transfer could occur in the next few days but that details and exact timing have not been finalized.
According to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, 7,800 American service members remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, and about 5,300 are believed to be located within North Korea.
North Korean officials have said they have the remains of about 200 U.S. service members that they have recovered since the active conflict with the United States ended in 1953.
CNN reported on Tuesday that the remains of as many as 200 U.S. troops could be returned as part of that agreement, but officials said it was too early to say how many would be included.
Repatriation of remains has occurred in the past, but only sporadically because of tensions between the two countries.
The United States launched 33 investigative and recovery missions into North Korea between 1996 and 2005, but those efforts ended as the political situation between Washington and Pyongyang deteriorated.
In 2007, North Korea agreed to repatriate the remains of six soldiers as the George W. Bush administration made its own disarmament attempt. In 2012, the U.S. military announced that it was planning to launch another recovery mission with North Korean approval after three days of talks in Bangkok, but that effort also was eventually scuttled.
The failed 2012 mission was expected to focus on two areas: Unsan County, about 60 miles north of Pyongyang, and the Chosin Reservoir. The latter was the site of fierce fighting, and the remains of more than 2,000 U.S. soldiers and Marines are believed to be missing there, U.S. military officials said at the time.
Looking forward to the expected transfer, officials said the multinational United Nations Command in South Korea, headed by an American 4-star general, would likely receive the remains from North Korean authorities, possibly along the two countries’ border. Then, in South Korea, the Pentagon agency responsible for prisoners of war and missing troops would take custody of the remains.
They would then be taken to the United States, most likely to Hawaii, for what could be a lengthy process of forensic analysis aimed at determining the service members’ identities so that families can be confirmed.
The expected transfer occurs as U.S. officials look for signs that North Korea intends to follow through with its stated desire to denuclearize.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday, Defense Secretary Jim Mattis said he had not yet seen any steps by North Korea to dismantle its nuclear program.
“Obviously, it’s the very front end of a process,” he said. “The detailed negotiations have not begun. I wouldn’t expect that at this point.”
John Hudson contributed to this report.
