N. Korea Says U.S. Remains Found

North Korea is claiming that it has found the remains of more than 400 U.S. servicemen killed in the Korean War, but U.S. officials said Friday that the assertion may merely be an effort to restart talks on the recovery of remains from the 1950-53 conflict.

North Korean officials, who have been pushing to swap remains for economic aid, wrote to American veterans groups this week saying the remains were uncovered during recent excavations in North Pyongan province. In the letter, the North Koreans said they were willing to return the remains without condition but warned that they could be lost in activities related to spring planting if the American side didn’t move quickly.

Li Gun, North Korea’s deputy representative to the United Nations, told the Associated Press that 415 sets of remains have been recovered so far but that officials believe many more may soon be found.

Veterans groups and U.S. officials greeted this claim cautiously, however, saying they so far have no way to judge whether it is true.

About 8,200 U.S. servicemen are still listed as missing in the war. Since 1996, the United States has paid about $2 million to cover the North Koreans’ expenses in gathering 42 sets of remains.

But talks between the two sides broke down in December over North Korea’s insistence that the United States donate what presumably would amount to many millions of dollars to build children’s clothing factories in the impoverished country.

The U.S. government has taken the position that the recovery of remains should not be conditioned on aid. One veterans group called the North Koreans’ demands “shopping-bag diplomacy.”

Kenneth H. Bacon, the chief Pentagon spokesman, said: “We are aware of the North Korean claims, but we have no way to confirm them. We are determined to identify and return American remains, but we consider this a humanitarian undertaking that cannot be linked to politics, economics or large payments.”

The U.S. policy was developed in consultation with veterans groups and the families of veterans, Bacon said.

Frank Metersky of the Chosin Few, a Korean War veterans group, said Friday that he doubts the North Koreans’ sincerity.

“We all agree this is a political ploy” to get the Pentagon involved in humanitarian assistance as a condition for the return of remains, he said. “We do not want our government to pay ransom.”