N. Korea to Return Remains of Wartime GIs
In what appeared to be a conciliatory gesture toward the United States, North Korea said Friday that it will return the remains of 33 American soldiers killed in the Korean War.
The transfer will be the largest since the end of the 1950-53 war. North Korea’s official Korean Central News Agency, monitored in Tokyo, said the repatriation will take place Tuesday at the border village of Panmunjom.
A U.S. military spokesman in Seoul confirmed that his command was expecting “a large transfer of remains in the near future.”
The north said additional remains will be delivered in December.
North Korea has returned about 60 sets of remains since 1990, none of which has been positively identified.
Its relations with Washington have deteriorated over the north’s refusal to allow international inspections of its weapons plants. North Korea is suspected of working to develop nuclear weapons--a charge it has denied.
The United States fought with South Korea against the north during the Korean War.
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