N. Korea Fails to Return Remains of U.S. Soldiers

North Korean officials did not show up Friday for a ceremony to hand over remains believed to be those of U.S. soldiers killed in the Korean War, the American-led U.N. Command said.

Command officials from Seoul waited for five minutes before deciding that the North Koreans would not arrive for the ceremony at this border village inside the demilitarized zone separating the two Koreas.

The North Koreans were to have transferred four sets of remains unearthed by a joint U.S.-North Korea recovery team in northern North Korea early this month.

U.S. Maj. Gen. Michael M. Dunn, representing the command, issued a statement denouncing North Korea for failing to return the remains “for reasons that defy explanation and understanding.”

“The return of remains is a purely humanitarian issue,” Dunn said. “The North’s refusal to turn over the remains . . . demonstrates their insensitivity to the families of those who have given the ultimate sacrifice.

“It again displays their unwillingness to take steps to further reduce tension on the Korean peninsula.”

Friday’s ceremony had originally been planned for Thursday.

U.S. and South Korean officials suspected that the North’s move might be in response to a naval clash with rival South Korea on Tuesday, in which two of its vessels were sunk and several others badly damaged. About 30 North Korean sailors are believed to have died.

The North’s media today accused the U.S. of dispatching additional naval ships and warplanes in support of the South Korean military.