North Korea Set to Deliver Remains of U.S. Servicemen Killed During Korean War

Recent developments regarding the United States’ relationship with North Korea, namely last week’s summit, have caused both countries to extend certain supposed olive branches in order to solidify the shaky relationship. On North Korea’s end, this means the potential return of around 200 U.S. servicemember’s remains, held by the North Korean government since the Korean War. It is unclear when exactly the remains will be delivered.

The negotiations regarding the remains have been reported by four White House officials. Said officials have expressed their hopes that the remains will be returned by the end of the week.

These negotiations have been framed by Trump as a significant victory for the United States.

The announcement regarding the return of the remains was made through the Pentagon’s website, with the statement:

“On several occasions in the past, DPRK officials have indicated they possess as many as 200 sets of remains they had recovered over the years. The commitment established within the Joint Statement between President Trump and Chairman Kim would repatriate these as was done in the early 1990s and would reinforce the humanitarian aspects of this mission.”

There are several thousands of other sets of remains in North Korea and many more servicemen that have not been found or identified. North Korean officials have stated that they believe the remains to be from American individuals due to differences between the bone structures of the remains and the bone structures of North Korean individuals.

Some of the remains are believed to have been pilots who were shot down while in action, some are believed to have been ground soldiers, and others are believed to have been prisoners of war.

It is still unclear if the soldiers’ tags, identification cards, etc. will be sent alongside the remains. They will not interfere with the U.S.’ planned DNA analysis, which will take place in Hawaii. The U.S. plans to reach out to the returned soldiers’ families, notifying them of the news.

Sources also reported that the remains will not be directly given to U.S. officials, but instead will be sent to the United Nations and then will be given to the U.S. following a brief ceremony. However, the Trump Administration could instead ask to send a direct envoy to Pyongyang to collect the remains.

This outcome of the summit could indicate the beginning of a cooperative relationship between the two countries.

Last week’s summit has caused a quite divisive set of reactions. In a joint effort, IPSOS and Reuters conducted a poll following the summit’s conclusion. In the poll, they asked Americans how they think the President performed and how his actions will change the future of U.S.-North Korean relations. The outcome of the meeting, as uncertain as it is, was a surprise for about forty percent of Americans, who didn’t believe that the leaders would follow through with their promises. Over a quarter did have confidence in the meeting’s potential, and thirty-four percent were unsure of what would happen. Overall, the meeting received a fifty percent approval rating from the public.

Some political analysts have stated that Trump’s approach to the summit was quite flawed, as he made significant commitments such as promising to end military drills on the Korean peninsula and to aid North Korea with its national security. On the other hand, Kim Jong-un merely committed to denuclearizing his country, yet gave no specification or indication of how he plans to do so.