Trump praises Kim over return of war dead amid summit skepticism
WASHINGTON: Amid skepticism over his rapprochement with Kim Jong Un, US President Donald Trump praised the North Korean leader on Friday for returning remains believed to be those of more than 50 US servicemen.
Trump pointed to the handover of 55 boxes said to hold the remains of US troops killed during the Korean War as evidence that his overtures to the North Korean strongman were bearing fruit.
“I want to thank Chairman Kim for keeping his word,” Trump said during an appearance at the White House after tweeting that it was a “great moment for so many families.”
Trump has hailed his June summit with Kim in Singapore as effectively ending the North Korean nuclear threat.
But it contained only a vague commitment on Pyongyang’s part to work towards the “denuclearization of the Korean peninsula” — a long way from the complete, verifiable and irreversible disarmament demanded by Washington.
With Trump facing criticism that concrete post-summit progress was scant, he welcomed the repatriation of the remains — which came on the 65th anniversary of the end of the war — as evidence that the talks were a success.
“I want to thank Chairman Kim in front of the media for fulfilling a promise that he made to me,” he said.
White House spokeswoman Sarah Sanders said the administration was “encouraged by North Korea’s actions and the momentum for positive change.”
More than 35,000 Americans were killed during the 1950-53 war and 7,700 are still listed as missing in action — most of them in North Korea.
A US military C-17 cargo plane carrying the purported remains of the more than 50 US servicemen landed at a US air base in South Korea on Thursday.
A formal repatriation ceremony is to be held in Hawaii on August 1, attended by vice-president Mike Pence. The remains will then be analysed there.
North Korea has previously been accused — most notably by Japan — of faking the remains of foreign citizens and using them as a bargaining chip.