Pyongyang may soon return US soldiers remains

WASHINGTON, DC: North Korea may soon return a first out of 200 sets of remains of American soldiers who died during the Korean War, after an agreement reached last week by Kim Jong-un and Donald Trump, a United States official said on Tuesday.

“Preparations continue” to receive the remains, the US official said on condition of anonymity. “It could happen in the next few days.”

The US and North Korean leaders agreed to the repatriations during their historic June 12 summit in Singapore.

“North Korean officials have indicated they possess as many as 200 sets of remains they had recovered over the years,” the Pentagon said in a factsheet updated on Monday about those reported missing in action during the Korean War of 1950-1953.

“The commitment established within the joint statement between Trump and Kim would repatriate these as was done in the early 1990s.”

More than 35,000 Americans were killed on the Korean Peninsula during the war, which ended in an armistice with no peace treaty. Among them, 7,700 are still considered missing, including 5,300 in North Korea alone.

Between 1990 and 2005, the US was granted the repatriation of 229 sets of remains from the North under an earlier agreement that was subsequently suspended when ties between the two countries deteriorated.