Repatriation of US POW/MIA remains to be discussed at Hanoi summit, Radio Free Asia reports

Posted on : 2019-02-21 17:24 KST Modified on : 2019-02-21 17:24 KST
An estimated 5,300 US soldiers remain buried somewhere in North Korea
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in Hawaii
The Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) in Hawaii

The issue of the recovery and repatriation of the remains of US troops who died during the Korean War will also be included in the agenda of the second summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump. While this will not be one of the key items on the agenda of the Hanoi summit, an agreement between the two leaders on a specific action plan for the recovery and repatriation of remains would likely be a meaningful confidence-building step for the two countries.

The US broadcaster Radio Free Asia reported that a spokesperson for the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs said on Feb. 19 that the coalition had heard from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), under the US Department of Defense, that the leaders of North Korea and the US would be tackling the repatriation of remains in their second summit.

“Since [the summit in] Singapore, [North Korea and the US] have discussed plans for recovering remains [in the future] through military general-level talks. The results of those talks will appear in the North Korea-US summit,” predicted a South Korean military official on Feb. 20 who is familiar with the status of the deliberations in question.

The recovery and repatriation of the remains of US soldiers was one of the agreements reached during the first North Korea-US summit, appearing as the fourth point of the joint agreement adopted at that time.

North Korea and the US convened military general-level talks on July 15, 2018, after a hiatus of nine years, to deliberate this issue. As a result, 55 sets of remains of US soldiers were repatriated to the US on July 27. During another round of general-level talks that were held two months later, the US suggested a joint effort by the two sides to recover remains around three battlefields – the Chosin Reservoir (Changjin Lake), Unsan and the Chongchon River – where a large number of remains are presumed to be buried. The US army estimates that a total of some 5,300 American soldiers are buried somewhere in North Korea, including 1,024 around Changjin Lake in South Hamgyong Province and 1,495 around Unsan County and Chongchon River in North Pyongan Province.

“The Department of Defense is currently in discussion with the North Korean military on plans for ambitious recovery excavations at the site of some of the Korean War’s bloodiest and most costly battles,” said US State Department Special Representative for North Korea Stephen Biegun during a speech at Stanford on Jan. 31. In light of these remarks, the summit could result in an agreement to carry out a joint recovery project in these areas.

Given their fundamentally humanitarian nature, projects to recover the remains of fallen soldiers are regarded as confidence-building measures between the two sides. But since the recovery process would involve the transportation of workers and equipment into North Korea and might involve the payment of cash to the North in payment for labor and materials, some believe this could serve as a roundabout way of rewarding the North.

The DPAA has expressed its position that it has the authority to pay costs arising during the recovery and repatriation of remains, and this would not constitute a breach of sanctions, either. From 1990 through last year, North Korea has handed over 499 sets of remains that are presumed to be US soldiers, and the identity of 349 of those sets had been confirmed. During that process, the US paid North Korea US$22 million.

By Kim Ji-eun and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters

Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]

button that move to original korean article (클릭시 원문으로 이동하는 버튼)