OSAN AIR BASE, South Korea – Remains handed over by North Korea to the United States last week were confirmed to be human and are likely to be American soldiers, officials said on Wednesday.
The 55 sets of remains, which were flown from Wonsan, North Korea to an American Air Force base outside of Seoul on July 27, were given a two-day field forensic review, said Dr. John Byrd, laboratory director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
“The remains are what the DPRK officials said they were,” he told reporters, using the official name for North Korea, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea. “They appear to be remains from the Korean War. They are likely to be American remains.”
The remains began their flight back to the U.S. on Wednesday evening local time, after a repatriation ceremony at Osan Air Base, located some 40 miles south of Seoul.
Byrd, speaking before the ceremony, confirmed that a single dog tag ID was also returned and noted the family of the soldier had been notified. However, he cautioned that a positive connection between the dog tag and any of the remains had not yet been made.
Byrd said that other evidence, such as boots, helmets and canteens was also excavated, helping further indicate that the soldiers were Americans.
"The remains are consistent with remains that we have recovered in North Korea through our own recovery efforts in the past," he said.
The 55 cases of remains were flown out on two C-17 cargo planes and will arrive Wednesday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, where they will be met by Vice President Mike Pence, the son of a Korean War combat veteran.
After the remains are received in what is known as an "honorable carry ceremony," they will be transferred to the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency’s lab, where they will undergo analysis to identify the individual soldiers. It will likely take from several months to years to identify the remains, according to a DPAA spokesperson.
American officials gave credit to the June summit held between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for the transfer and Wednesday's repatriation.
The transfer was the “a tangible result of the commitment made by President Trump and Chairman Kim in Singapore,” said Angela Kerwin, Consul General at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul. She said that no payment had been made to North Korea for the remains.
That meeting in Singapore included an agreement for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula but lacked any concrete timetable or means for how it would occur. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo confirmed before the Senate last week that North Korea was continuing to produce fuel for their nuclear weapons.
A report in the Washington Post on Monday, citing U.S. spy agencies, claimed that North Korea is also still building long-range ballistic missiles capable of reaching the United States.
At the repatriation ceremony on Wednesday, 55 transfer cases draped in the blue United Nations flag were arranged inside an airplane hangar at Osan Air Base. The United Nations Command, led by the U.S., fought alongside South Korea during the Korean War.
Dignitaries from the 16 countries that fought under the U.N. banner during the 1950-1953 conflict laid wreaths to honor the fallen soldiers, which were given a 21-gun salute by U.S. riflemen. Taps and the national anthems of the U.S. and South Korea were played, and the cases were transferred by van to the airstrip. An aerial salute known as the “missing man formation” was conducted by F-16s before the remains were loaded on a pair of cargo planes.
In remarks at the ceremony, General Vincent Brooks, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, called the repatriation of remains “a cherished duty, a commitment made to one another before going into battle and passed on from one generation of warriors to the next.”
He said the event was a “solemn reminder that our work is not complete until all have been accounted for, no matter how long it takes to do so.”
"This is a great first step in terms of bringing all Americans home," said Rear Admiral Jon Kreitz, the deputy director of the DPAA. “We look forward to potentially pursuing recovery operations in North Korea and we’re hopeful. Again, this is a great first step in building some confidence and a relationship.”
About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing from the Korean War, and 5,300 of the remains are believed to still be in North Korea. The war killed millions, including 36,000 American soldiers.
WFTV
