What is most notable about this is that the Kim regime apparently did not demand bags of cash to make this happen. It appears to be simply a good will gesture in response to the cancelling of the UFG exercise:
North Korean soldiers hand over to United Nations troops standing at the inter-Korean border a casket containing the remains of one of seventeen U.S. servicemen who served in the Korean War during repatriation ceremonies at the treaty village of Panmunjom, North Korea, July 12, 1993. REUTERS-Yonhap
The U.S. military plans to send 215 empty caskets to North Korea via the inter-Korean border on Saturday to get back the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War, a South Korean military official said.About 30 U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) vehicles carrying the caskets were scheduled to depart from the Camp Humphreys base in Pyeongtaek for the border village of Panmunjom on Saturday afternoon, the official said on condition of anonymity.
“North Korea will repatriate the remains in the caskets,” the official said.
Recovering and repatriating the remains of U.S. troops killed during the 1950-53 war was one of the agreements that U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un reached during their historic summit in Singapore earlier this month. [Korea Times]
You can read more at the link, but it is right now undetermined how the remains will be repatriated, but it is expected to happen in the next few days.
What I did not see in the article was if any money was handed over to North Korea for the return of the remains. My assumption would be probably not since the sanctions are still in place. It will be interesting to see how many remains the Kim regime hands over because Korean War remains are a cottage industry for the North Koreans to make money off of:
Marines of the First Marine Division pay their respects to fallen buddies during memorial services at the division’s cemetery at Hamhung, Korea, following the break-out from Chosin Reservoir, December 13, 1950. Cpl. Uthe. (Marine Corps)
The U.N. Command in South Korea is planning for the North Koreans to turn over the remains of U.S. troops who died in the 1950-53 war, a spokeswoman said Wednesday.
It would be the first such repatriation in more than a decade.
The announcement follows an agreement by President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un during their summit last week to recover the remains of thousands of war dead, “including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.”
The U.S.-led command didn’t give a number or timing for the ceremony. The agency that oversees POW/MIA issues has said North Korean officials have indicated that they have recovered as many as 200 sets of remains over the years. [Stars & Stripes]
You can read more at the link, but the North Koreans know exactly where the bulk of the remains are because the US military buried a large number of casualties in marked cemeteries before evacuating North Korea after the Chinese intervened in the war.
The JSA may be preparing for the ceremony, but President Trump has said 200 remains have already been returned:
U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that North Korea has sent back the remains of 200 American soldiers who were killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
The repatriation is part of an agreement Trump signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un at their historic summit in Singapore last week.
“Our great fallen heroes, the remains, in fact today already 200 have been sent back,” Trump said at a rally in Duluth, Minnesota, noting that he had “great chemistry” and “got along really well” with Kim. [Korea Times]
I could find no confirmation that this has actually happened yet; you would think this would be major news which leads me to believe it hasn’t happened. However, if Kim does hand over 200 remains that is a pretty significant amount.
Trump apparently believes (wrongly) he’s done something with the Korean War MIA issue that none of his predecessors has done before, in addition to treating it like a “mission accomplished” for simply having talked about it. https://t.co/RH2YZ70lOJ
