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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo (left) meets with Vice Chairman of the Central Committee of the Workers’ Party of Korea (WPK) Kim Yong-chol during his third visit to North Korea on July 7. (Yonhap News)
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North Korea and US reach agreement on repatriation during working-level talks in Panmunjeom
North Korea and the US are planning to repatriate 55 sets of remains of American soldiers who died during the Korean War by plane on July 27, according to a July 17 report by Stars and Stripes, the newspaper associated with the US military. Quoting US government officials, Stars and Stripes reported that the two sides reached this agreement during working-level talks that were held in Panmunjeom on July 16. The newspaper said that Americans will load trucks with wooden cases for holding the remains and send them into North Korea, quoting an official as saying that the North Koreans are “going to use our cases for the remains and give them back to us.” According to this official, an American delegation is going to confirm the remains and then put them on a plane on July 27 bound for Osan Air Base in South Korea or Hawaii. This date could change during the process of deliberations between the two sides, the official added. July 27 marks the 65th anniversary of the signing of the armistice agreement following the Korean War, and the selection of that date for the repatriation of US POW/MIA remains holds great symbolic significance. A foreign affairs source acquainted with North Korea-US relations confirmed that day that the two sides “agreed on July 27” as a date for the repatriation. “My understanding is that the remains will be delivered directly by plane rather than going through Panmunjeom,” the source added, indicating that the delivery will not take place through Panmunjeom as reported previously. It was not reported where the aircraft carrying the remains would depart from or travel to. US Forces Korea previously stated that it had transferred around 100 wooden boxes to the Panmunjeom Joint Security Area (JSA) for use in repatriating the remains and set up 158 metal coffins at Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province for the remains’ transport to the US. For this reason, the aircraft carrying the remains on July 27 could travel to the US by way of Osan Air Base. A South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs senior official said the issue was a “matter between North Korea and the US,” adding only that “the discussions [between North Korea and the US on the repatriation effort] seem to be going well, and the US government will make an announcement once they are complete.” North Korea and the US are reportedly set to meet shortly for final discussions following previous general officer-level talks on July 15 and working-level talks on July 16. By Kim Ji-eun, staff reporter Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
