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North Korea delivered what could be the remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War on Friday, the White House reported, after an American military plane traveled from South Korea to a North Korean city to pick them up.
The delivery fulfills a promise that Kim Jong Un made last month to US President Donald Trump when the leaders met in June, and this is the first concrete result of this summit that has generated great expectations .
Trump thanked Kim for "keeping her promise" to return the remains. In a press address in one of the White House gardens, he said the plane was carrying the remains of "some great fallen heroes of the United States in the Korean War."
Vice President Mike Pence will receive the families and the remains of the soldiers, said the president, and thanked Kim for "keeping his word."
A reporter from Associated Press at the base outside Seoul witnessed the arrival of the plane, and the White House has previously confirmed that & # 39; 39, a C-17 Air Force aircraft with the rest left of Wonsan, North Korea, bound for Osan. On August 1st, an official repatriation ceremony will take place.
In Osan, US soldiers and a military honor guard stood on the trail to receive the remains, which were moved to boxes covered with United Nations flags.
No details were provided on what was collected, but previous reports indicated that Pyongyang would make about 55 sets of remnants of the Korean War, which were released from 1950 to 1953.
About 7,700 soldiers are registered as it was missing in this conflict, and it is estimated that 5,300 remains remain in North Korea.
Millions of people have died, including 36,000 American soldiers.
General Vincent K. Brooks, commander of US forces in Korea, said in a statement from the US command that the operation was a success. We will now prepare to honor those who have fallen before they return home.
After the ceremonies, the remains will go to the Pearl Harbor-Hickam common base in Hawaii, where they will undergo scientific examinations. A series of medico-legal techniques will be applied to determine if they are really human remains, and whether they are American troops or allies killed in the conflict.
Trump tweeted Thursday night (Washington time) that the repatriation was underway, saying, "After so many years, it will be a good time for many families … Thank you Kim Jong Un."
Despite the rhetoric about denuclearization before its meeting, the summit between Trump and Kim ended with a vague aspiration to a Korean peninsula free of atomic weapons, without describing when and how that will happen.
North Koreans did not comment on the return of the remains on Friday, which marks the 65th anniversary of the end of the Korean War, which the country celebrates as the day of "victory in the war liberation of the fatherland.
Friday's repatriation could be followed by North Korean demands for talks with the United States to come up with a declaration that officially ends the war, which was suspended with an armistice, but without a peace treaty.
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