NK resumes talks with US on war remains

By Kim Yoo-chul

Talks between the United States and North Korea over a possible joint effort for the recovery of more remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War have resumed last week, a government official said, Sunday.

"A general-level meeting was held at the truce village of Panmunjeon late Sept. 7 between representatives from each side in which they discussed ways to initiate moves for joint excavations of more remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the inter-Korean War within North Korean territory," the official said.

"The potential for future remains being repatriated was also a key part of the agenda at the talks. The U.S. was hoping to receive more remains of its soldiers killed during the Korean War."

Details on the specific timeline of the joint excavation project and how many U.S. military investigators will be allowed access to the battle sites remain unknown as the North was still reluctant to allow U.S. inspectors into its territory.

The U.S. delegation was led by Major General Michael Minihan, chief of staff for the United Nations Command (UNC) and U.S. Forces Korea, while Lieutenant General An Ik-san represented North Korea, the official said.

The general-level meeting between Washington and Pyongyang was the first official direct talks since U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo canceled his planned visit to Pyongyang abruptly last month.

Pompeo received a handwritten letter from North Korean leader Kim Jong-un stating U.S. President Donald Trump was expecting progress from Kim.

Trump insisted Kim's recent statement that he wants to denuclearize North Korea during Trump's first term as president was "a very positive statement."

The UNC estimates nearly 5,000 U.S. soldiers including 1,000 within the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) separating the two Koreas, remain unaccounted for.

In accordance with a June agreement between Trump and Kim in Singapore, under which the two countries would be collaborating to develop the process of finding and repatriating the remains of U.S. soldiers killed during the war, North Korea has returned the remains of 55 U.S. soldiers this year so far.

The representatives also discussed the cost for the repatriation, said the official. However, he declined to elaborate further, citing the sensitivity of the issue.

Washington is said to have paid about $22 million or 24.7 billion won to Pyongyang from 1990 to 2005 for receiving some 629 remains of U.S. soldiers who were unaccounted for from the war, according to government sources.

In a related note, Stephen Biegun, the recently named U.S. special envoy for North Korea, will visit South Korea, China and Japan from Sept. 10 to 15. This will be his first diplomatic trip apparently aimed at advancing Pyongyang's nuclear disarmament talks, which have been stalled.

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