Mattis says N. Korea ready to return remains of American troops: Yonhap

By Lim Chang-won Posted : June 26, 2018, 10:39 Updated : June 26, 2018, 10:39

[Yonhap Photo]


WASHINGTON -- The United Nations Command in South Korea will handle North Korea's return of the remains of American troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War, U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis has said.

The repatriation was part of an agreement reached by U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their historic summit on June 12. U.S. Forces Korea said over the weekend that it had moved 100 wooden coffins to the inter-Korean border to prepare for the remains' delivery, with about 200 expected to be returned.

"The United Nations Command in ROK, in the Republic of Korea, is prepared, now, to receive those remains," Mattis told reporters Sunday en route to Alaska, according to an official transcript. From Alaska, the U.S. defense chief is set to travel to China, South Korea and then Japan for consultations with his counterparts.

"They have staged appropriate logistics materials, and we simply are standing by for whenever the diplomatic activities are done. And we're optimistic that it will begin because that was an agreement coming out of Singapore," Mattis said.

The UNC oversees the cease-fire that ended the Korean War. Mattis explained that the UNC was chosen to receive the remains, not the South Korean or U.S. militaries alone, because all 21 nations that fought under the U.N. flag alongside South Korea and the U.S. lost troops in the conflict.

Once the remains cross the inter-Korean border, they will be moved to the U.S. air base in Osan, south of Seoul. "There, they will be checked to make sure that they appear to be what we think they are, just to make sure that they're probably from either western countries or other countries that were sending states," Mattis said, adding that the process will take a couple days or a week.

The remains will then be sent to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii for forensic identification. Mattis is scheduled to arrive in Seoul on Thursday for talks with South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo.
(Yonhap)
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