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Five sets of the remains of US soldiers who died in North Korea were repatriated to the US via Panmunjeom in Oct. 1998. (Lee Jung-woo, staff photographer)
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Still no confirmation regarding North Korea’s willingness to repatriate remains
With working-level talks scheduled between North Korea and the US on July 12 for the return of the remains of US POW/MIA from the Korean War, the Pentagon asserted its right to pay costs related to the remains’ excavation. But with the question of whether and when North Korea will return the remains still up in the air, the Pentagon said it would “inappropriate” to discuss the handling of costs for the future repatriation process. A July 10 Voice of America (VOA) report quoted an official with the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) as saying the US government “does not pay any government or individual for the remains of missing Americans” as a matter of policy. “But we are authorized to reimburse for the costs incurred with recovering and repatriating U.S. remains,” the official added. The remarks came in response to the VOA’s request for confirmation of the amounts paid by the US government to North Korea for past repatriation of US soldiers’ remains. According to the VOA, US military authorities clearly stated that the repatriation was not a transaction in which payments were made for the remains’ return. Based on the DPAA official’s account, the US had an estimated 629 sets of remains repatriated by North Korea between 1990 and 2005. Identities were confirmed for 334 of them. In the process, the US government paid “costs” of around US$22 million to North Korea, or an average of US$35,000 for each body recovered. The US also received 208 boxes over a four-year period from 1990 which were found to have around 400 sets of US soldier remains inside. To date, North Korea and the US have held a total of 33 joint excavations. A joint investigation team unearthed 229 sets of remains in North Korea between 1996 and 2005. One hundred fifty-three of them were identified, and the US paid approximately US$19 million (21.3 billion won), the official told VOA. But when asked by reporters if the US plans to pay North Korea for the repatriation of additional remains, the official said they could not provide a response on whether or when the remains would be returned by North Korea, adding that it would “premature and inappropriate” to discuss payment at the present time. Following an agreement on the repatriation of US soldiers’ remains at the June 12 North Korea-US summit in Singapore, full-scale discussions are expected to begin after working-level talks between the two sides on July 12. Meeting with reporters on July 9, US Defense Department spokesperson Robert Manning said, the United Nations Command would work to retrieve and repatriate remains from North Korea. “The United Nations Command is prepared to receive those remains [after North Korea begins the repatriation process],” Manning said, adding that appropriate transportation equipment had been relocated as the US awaits the completion of diplomatic procedures. Last month, US Forces Korea (USFK) announced the transfer around 100 wooden boxes to the Panmunjeom Joint Security Area (JSA) for use in repatriating remains, adding that 158 metal coffins had been supplied at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province for the remains’ shipment to the US. Of the 7,697 US troops who disappeared during the Korean War, the Pentagon predicts as many as 5,300 sets of remains belong to soldiers who died in North Korean territory. If the repatriation does occur, it will be the first in 11 years since 2007. By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
