DPRK to transfer remains of US soldiers on Friday
SEOUL - The Democratic People's Republic of Korea will transfer the remains of an unspecified number of soldiers killed in the Korean War (1950-53) on Friday, the Seoul-based Yonhap news agency reported, after accepting about 100 wooden caskets sent by the United States.
The repatriation of remains of US soldiers killed in the war was one of the agreements reached during a landmark summit between US President Donald Trump and DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on June 12.
US Forces Korea said last month that they had moved 100 wooden temporary transit cases into the Demilitarized Zone separating the two countries in the Korean Peninsula to receive and transport the remains.
Yonhap, citing an unidentified diplomatic source, said on Thursday that Pyongyang had accepted the caskets, which were carried in two trucks, and was expected to transfer the remains on Friday.
The planned transfer would coincide with the 65th anniversary of the 1953 armistice agreement that ended fighting.
More than 35,000 US soldiers were killed during the war, out of which around 7,700 are still considered missing, including 5,300 in the DPRK alone, the Pentagon said.
A US military transport plane was set to fly to the Kalma Airport in the DPRK's northeastern city of Wonsan to accept the remains, Yonhap reported. They would then be flown to Hawaii after an initial DNA analysis at Osan air base in the Republic of Korea.
CNN, citing a US official, reported earlier this week that Washington expects to receive an initial 55 sets of remains.
ROK President Moon Jae-in said during a meeting with new US Ambassador Harry Harris to the ROK on Wednesday that the transfer of the remains would boost the momentum for nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.
Harris said the transfer would be an "important sign" to show Pyongyang's sincerity about denuclearization, Moon's office said.
Reuters - Afp
(China Daily 07/27/2018 page12)
