WASHINGTON—The North Korean government is expected to transfer the remains of more than 250 service members to the U.S. within the next day or two, according to a U.S. official, in keeping with a joint statement between President Donald Trump and North Korea’s Kim Jong Un following their summit last week.
The remains would likely be brought to Osan, a U.S. military air base south of Seoul, where they would be repatriated in a tarmac ceremony with Gen. Vincent Brooks, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea, then sent to Hickam Air Force Base, Hawaii, to undergo scientific testing to help with identification.
Most of the more than 250 sets of remains are believed to be those of American service members missing since the 1950s-era Korean War. But the official said the remains would be “co-mingled,” meaning there may be individuals of other nationalities included as part of the transfer.
The remains of the service members of other nationalities would be returned to their countries, the official said.
The move is one in a series of concessions that the U.S. and North Korean governments are making to reduce tensions as they pursue the goals of removing nuclear weapons from North Korea while assuring the country’s security and economic growth.
North Korea already is adhering to a moratorium on nuclear and missile tests. The U.S., in turn, suspended a major military exercise with South Korea in August in which thousands of service members were scheduled to participate.
The summit declaration committed the two sides to recovering wartime remains, “including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.” The follow-through gesture by North Korea continues the diplomatic momentum of the summit.
Mr. Trump said last week in Singapore that relatives of U.S. service personnel who died during the war had implored him to arrange for the remains to be returned and that Mr. Kim had promised to do so.
“That was a very last-minute request,” Mr. Trump said. “And he agreed to that so quickly and nicely.”
About 7,700 U.S. troops are missing from the Korean War, about 5,300 of whom were lost in North Korea. The joint statement adopted in Singapore wasn’t the first attempt to address the issue.
From 1996 to 2005, the U.S. and North Korean military conducted 33 joint investigations to recover the remains of U.S. servicemen. As a result, 229 sets of remains were recovered, not all of which were successfully identified.
But the effort was suspended by the Pentagon in May 2005 as diplomatic efforts over North Korea’s nuclear program faltered and the U.S. expressed concerns about the safety of its search teams.
A new agreement was reached in 2011 to resume the recovery efforts, but the effort was suspended in early 2012 over differences over North Korea’s missile program.
Apart from the question of missing service members, the two sides continue to disagree on how quickly North Korean should eliminate its nuclear weapons and programs, and it has yet to be determined how the U.S. would verify the North’s denuclearization.
Secretary of State Mike Pompeo, who is leading the diplomatic effort for the U.S., has said much work remains to negotiate an accord and talks are likely to resume soon. The Trump administration has said it wants the North to take major steps toward eliminating its nuclear weapons and programs over the next 2½ years.
Write to Gordon Lubold at Gordon.Lubold@wsj.com and Michael R. Gordon at michael.gordon@wsj.com