Pompeo: ‘Productive’ talks on remains

U.S., N. Koreans discuss service members’ return

SEOUL, South Korea — U.S. and North Korean officials held “productive” talks Sunday to discuss the return of U.S. service members’ remains missing since the Korean War, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

Pompeo, who was not part of the talks, said in a statement that working-level meetings between U.S. and North Korean officials would start Monday “to coordinate the next steps, including the transfer of remains already collected” in North Korea.

It was not clear who took part in Sunday’s talks, held at the inter-korean border. Pompeo said they were “the first General Officer-level talks” with North Korea since 2009.

He said the meeting “was aimed at fulfilling one of the commitments” made by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at last month’s summit with President Donald Trump in Singapore. Sunday’s meeting came a week after Pompeo traveled to Pyongyang to start follow-up talks to last month’s Singapore summit in which Trump and Kim issued aspirations for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula.

About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing from the Korean War, and 5,300 of the missing are believed to be in North Korea.

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