North Korean trump on the return of the Korean war

North Korean officials did not introduce themselves to US officials to discuss the return of the remains of US soldiers killed Thursday in the Korean War, and it's essentially a slap in the face of President Donald Trump.

When Trump entered into history by meeting North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June for the stated purpose of denuclearizing the rogue state, Trump did not receive much concrete promises from Pyongyang.

But Kim agreed in writing to "recover the remains of the POW / MIA, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified."

"The repatriation of the remnants of the Korean War is significant in that it partially closes a painful chapter of US-Korean relations," Business Insider Benjamin Young, a North Korean expert, told Business Insider. George Washington University. "It is significant from a historical and symbolic point of view."

But North Korea did not immediately repatriate any body. Blowing the meeting, as reported by the South Korean newspaper Yonhap News, North Korea has shown that it can be difficult even with symbolic gestures of kindness.

Thousands of 100 year old kids asked Trump to recover the bodies?

After the summit, Trump really insisted that the return of the bodies was an important achievement in making dubious statements.

Trump says "thousands" of parents of Korean War soldiers asked him to recover the remains, but the Korean War took place from 1950 to 1953, meaning that these parents would be born around the 1920s, and almost 100 years old today. ; it seems likely that this figure includes surviving relatives of the deceased who are still seeking a closure.

Later in June, he claimed that 200 bodies had been returned, but he provided no evidence. The North Korean authorities said they have identified the remains of about 200 US soldiers, so it is unclear why North Korea would still meet if it had returned the bodies.

North Korea sticks to Trump

The latest recklessness of North Korea follows Kim Jong Un who chooses to visit a potato farm rather than meet with Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean media for denuclearization.

While Trump probably responded to the request of US parents of Korean War veterans for their remains, reinstatement of the bodies would no doubt improve relations and build confidence.

Kim did not agree to take any measures in favor of denuclearization, and there is every reason to believe that North Korea has continued to search for nuclear weapons.

But Kim agreed to bring back the bodies. Sending the bodies would prove that North Korea can trust to some degree, and cost Pyongyang nothing in terms of military posture.

North Korea has called for an American general to negotiate with them the return of the remains of US soldiers as early as Sunday, Yonhap reported.

If North Korea is dragging its feet by making an explicit promise to make a symbolic and kind gesture, it does not bode well for the broader goal of denuclearization.