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| Kelly McKeague, center, director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, updates reporters on the recently repatriated remains from North Korea on Aug. 8, in Arlington, Virginia. / AP-Yonhap |
By Lee Min-hyung
Hopes are growing for the possibility that South Korea and the United States will engage in a joint project next year in North Korea to repatriate the remains of U.S. soldiers who died in North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.
An official from the South's Ministry of National Defense said Monday it hopes to join hands with its U.S. counterpart to speed up the repatriation of the war remains despite possible challenges.
"At the moment, it is not realistic for the South Korean defense ministry to take part in the U.S.'s reported plan to dispatch officials to the North and jointly work on the repatriation of war remains there," an official from the South Korean defense ministry said.
"Despite the challenges, we also hope to join hands with the U.S. to work on the repatriation of war remains in the DMZ area," said the official, adding South Korea is also on track to make more efforts in repatriating Korean War remains especially buried in the inter-Korean demilitarized zone (DMZ).
Last week, the defense ministry unveiled its plan to expand the workforce that will engage in the repatriation activity. It said four teams ― consisting of 48 professional officials ― will be established until the end of next year to work on the project. The ministry estimates the remains of about 40,000 soldiers are buried on the northern side of the DMZ.
The remarks by the South's defense ministry came a few days after a ranking U.S. official expressed optimism in dispatching officials to Pyongyang sometime in the first half of next year to return war remains there.
According to Kelly McKeague, a director at the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), the organization is pushing ahead with realizing the plan by seeking sanction relief from the United Nations.
"The soonest we will be able to go back to North Korea would be spring 2019 primarily because of the weather in North Korea," he told Radio Free Asia (RFA) in a recent interview. "In order for us to operate and reimburse North Korea for expenses incurred, we will have to obtain sanction relief from the UN. That is part of dialogue and discussion."
The repatriation of the soldiers' remains is part of a follow-up measure to the historic summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in June.
The first-ever Washington-Pyongyang summit ended in a peaceful mood, with both sides agreeing to join hands toward the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Later last month, North Korea returned the remains of 55 U.S. soldiers who were killed during the Korean War, in what is seen as the first meaningful and concrete steps taken by the regime following the June 12 summit.
