U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korea's leader Kim Jong Un sign documents that acknowledge the progress of the talks and pledge to keep momentum going, after their summit at the Capella Hotel on Sentosa island in Singapore, June 12, 2018.
Reuters: Recovery of U.S. troops' remains in North Korea complicated by cash, politics
SEOUL (Reuters) - When North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed in June to help return the remains of American troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, it was seen as one of the more attainable goals to come out of his summit with U.S. President Donald Trump.
American officials expect North Korea to hand over around 50 sets of remains in coming days or weeks, but the drawn-out process of negotiations to get to this point highlights the complications involved in the issue.
At the heart of the difficulty, former officials involved in previous recovery missions say, are likely demands from North Korea for cash compensation, as well as the unsolved tensions over North’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile arsenal.
More than 7,700 U.S. troops who fought in the Korean War remain unaccounted for, with about 5,300 of those lost in what is now North Korea, according to the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the U.S. military agency tasked with tracking down prisoners of war and troops missing in action.
The Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, leaving the United States and North Korea still technically at war.
Read more ....
WNU Editor: This is going to take some time, but these remains will ultimately be returned .... albeit at a price.
2 comments:
I wonder if they will DNA the remains when/if they get them.
Bob, the remains are DNA'd. The problem is there might be no remaining family members from whom to get samples for purposes of ID.
Ain't that a sad one.
Post a Comment