US, DPRK agree on field searches for war remains

AMERICAN and DPRK officials yesterday agreed to resume field operations to search for American service members’ remains and will meet again today, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

The officials met yesterday to discuss the repatriation of the remains, which went missing during the 1950-1953 Korean War. Pompeo said in a statement that yesterday’s talks were “productive” and “resulted in firm commitments.”

Military officials met on the inter-Korean border to discuss the issue, the first time in nine years that generals from the two sides have held talks, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency said.

The repatriation of US remains was one of the agreements reached during an unprecedented summit between US President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un, leader of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, in June in Singapore.

Pompeo unveiled the plan for talks after visiting Pyongyang this month, touting it as one of key issues on which the two sides had made progress, though the DPRK accused his delegation of making “gangster-like” demands in connection with denuclearization during the trip.

Pompeo initially said the two sides had agreed to hold talks on US remains last Thursday but no DPRK representatives showed up on the border.

DPRK then proposed meeting US officials yesterday.

South Korea’s Yonhap news agency, citing South Korean government and US military sources, said the negotiations began at 10am at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone separating the two Koreas.

Three vehicles of US forces in South Korea, flying UN flags, were spotted heading to the border earlier in the day.