US moves coffins to inter-Korean border Singapore reveals summit spending

THE US military said it moved 100 wooden coffins to the inter-Korean border to prepare for the returning by the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea’s of the remains of American soldiers who have been missing since the 1950-53 Korean War.

US Forces Korea spokesman Col. Chad Carroll also said on Saturday that 158 metal transfer cases were sent to a US air base near Seoul, South Korea’s capital, and would be used to send the remains home.

The DPRK agreed to return US war remains during the June 12 summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and US President Donald Trump.

While the US military preparations suggest that the repatriation of war remains could be imminent, it remains unclear when and how it would occur.

Carroll said plans for the repatriation were “still preliminary.”

US Forces Korea said in a statement later in the day that 100 wooden “temporary transit cases” built in Seoul were sent to the Joint Security Area at the border as part of preparations to “receive and transport remains in a dignified manner when we get the call to do so.”

From 1996 to 2005, joint US-DPRK military search teams conducted 33 recovery operations that collected 229 sets of American remains.

But efforts to recover and return other remains have stalled for more than a decade because of Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons development and US claims that the safety of recovery teams it sent during the administration of former President George W. Bush was not sufficiently guaranteed.

US officials have said earlier that the remains are believed to be some or all of the more than 200 that the DPRK have had for some time.

But the precise number and the identities — including whether they are US or allied service members — won’t be known until the remains are tested.

The transfer of remains is usually done in a somber, formal ceremony, and that is what officials said was being planned.

Richard Downes, executive director of the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs, said last week that he had been told Pyongyang may have the remains of more than 200 American service members that were likely recovered from land during farming or construction and could be easily returned. But he said the vast majority have yet to be located and retrieved from various cemeteries and battlefields across the countryside.

More than 36,000 US troops died in the conflict, including those listed as missing in action. Close to 7,700 US troops remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, and about 5,300 of those were lost in the DPRK.

The last time the DPRK turned over remains was in 2007, when Bill Richardson, a former UN ambassador and New Mexico governor, secured the return of six sets.

According to Chuck Prichard, spokesman for the Defense POW/ MIA Accounting Agency, once the remains are turned over, they would be sent to one of two Defense Department facilities for tests to determine identification. Singapore said yesterday it spent S$16.3 million (US$12 million) on hosting the summit between US President Donald Trump and Democratize People’s Republic of Korea leader Kim Jong Un, less than earlier reports that had angered some locals.

Most of the money went on security, the foreign ministry said, without giving a detailed breakdown.

Prime Minister Lee Hsien Loong had earlier estimated the event cost Singapore S$20 million. Foreign minister Vivian Balakrishnan had said that included the cost of Kim’s hotel room.

Those reports drew anger from some Singaporeans on social media — though one commentator said it was a small price to pay to contribute to regional peace.

Marketing experts said the publicity generated from hosting the summit could be worth more than 10 times the cost to the Southeast Asian city-state.

Trump and Kim each spent three days in Singapore for the June 12 summit where the two pledged to work on ending the DPRK’s nuclear program and improve ties.

(Reuters)