Posted on : Jun.22,2018 15:51 KST
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The last remains to be repatriated were of six soldiers handed over to Bill Richardson, then governor of New Mexico, at the US military’s Yongsan Garrison in Apr. 2007. The photo shows a repatriation ceremony for the remains of six US soldiers at the US 8th Army Command’s Yongsan Garrison. (photo pool)
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First tangible sign of implementation of Singapore summit agreement
US President Donald Trump said that the remains of 200 US soldiers who had died in the Korean War had already been repatriated to the US, which was one of the agreements reached during his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore. This is the first tangible sign that Kim and Trump’s agreement is being implemented.
“We got back our great fallen heroes, the remains sent back today, already 200 got sent back,” Trump said during a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, on June 20. Trump’s remarks appear to mean that the process of repatriating the remains from North Korea has begun.
Citing an American official, the Wall Street Journal reported on June 20 that North Korea would be handing over the remains of more than 250 American soldiers within a couple of days. After a memorial service at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province presided over by Gen. Vincent Brooks, commander of US Forces Korea, the newspaper said, the soldiers’ remains would be sent to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii for the job of identifying them. Trump’s remarks and this report suggest that North Korea will be handing over the remains as early as June 21 or 22, in US time.
The news about the imminent repatriation of the remains of more than 200 US soldiers who died in North Korea during the Korean War is spurring hopes that this can help accelerate the work of building a relationship of trust between the two sides. Since repatriating the remains is the first step toward implementing the joint statement that Trump and Kim agreed to in Singapore on June 12, it is likely to contribute to the formation of a positive atmosphere for future discussions between North Korea and the US about denuclearization and corresponding measures.
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A repatriation ceremony for the remains of six US soldiers is held at the Yongsan Garrison’s Collier Field House, on Apr. 12, 2007. (Park Jong-shik, staff photographer)
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Recovering remains of US soldiers has been major issue for decades
Recovering and repatriating the remains of American soldiers has been regarded as a humanitarian project with the goal of returning the fallen to their family members. But in reality, this project has been buffeted by the shifting political winds of North Korea-US relations. This was the first confidence-building measure to be discussed when relations thawed and the first to be discarded when they chilled.
Between 1996 and 2005, for example, a joint team of excavators from North Korea and the US recovered the remains of more than 200 American soldiers in the North. But when North Korea-US relations soured under US President George Bush, the work was halted because of concerns about the safety of the American excavation team deployed to the North and because of the money that was flowing into North Korea. The last remains to be repatriated were of six soldiers handed over to Bill Richardson, then governor of New Mexico, in 2007. During a meeting in Bangkok, Thailand, in Oct. 2011, the two countries agreed to resume the search for remains, but this was agreement was not carried out after North Korea launched a satellite in Apr. 2012.
The remains being repatriated were reportedly located independently by North Korea over the past few years. This corresponds to the section of the joint statement about “recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.”
This also implies that efforts will begin on future recovery efforts. According to the Pentagon, 7,697 American soldiers were missing in action during the Korean War, and it is estimated that 5,300 of them were killed in battle and buried in North Korea.
Possible opening of communication lines
In addition to the humanitarian aspect, the recovery of remains is also very symbolic of drawing the curtain on a hostile relationship. Simply loading coffins draped in American flags onto an American military aircraft at Pyongyang International Airport or holding a repatriation ceremony on the overland route at Panmunjeom begins the process of wiping away the wounds of the war. The US has also conducted joint recovery operations in Vietnam and Laos following the end of wars with those countries.
Once the excavation project gets underway, the expected political result is a considerable lessening of tensions between North Korea and the US. If dozens of American soldiers and experts are operating on the ground in North Korea, it is expected to open a channel of dialogue, albeit a minor one, between the US army and the North Korean People’s Army (KPA). For the duration of the excavation efforts, an American communication officer will remain in Pyongyang and make reports to the US military authorities every day.
Some concerns have been raised that the US will be paying North Korea cash for the use of workers and supplies during the recovery efforts. But in addition to being unrelated to sanctions on North Korea, there’s a sense in which this is unavoidable. Locating remains means venturing into treacherous mountainous regions where the fiercest battles of the war were fought, and the US will have no choice but to rely on North Korean soldiers and locals who have an intimate knowledge of the terrain. According to a report by the US Congressional Research Service that was released in May 2005, the US Defense Department had paid North Korea US$28 million since 1993.
“Our understanding is that the remains of US soldiers will be repatriated through Panmunjeom. The UN Command has been asked to be ready to receive the remains at any time,” said a senior official in the South Korean government.
By Jung E-gil, senior staff writer, and Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent
Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
