Trump-Kim game with US remains MIA becomes more cynical at the hour

SEOUL – The return of the remains of GIs killed in the Korean War will inevitably be a sad and moving spectacle, and North Koreans are well acquainted with the emotional strings they pull by bargaining the remains of bodies, or remains. President Donald J. Trump has been involved in the charade at least since the Singapore summit on June 12, when he proudly claimed to have talked about Kim Jong Un in incorporating the return of the remains as the fourth and final point of the brief statement that both signed. "The remains will come back," he boasted during the disjointed press conference that he organized a few hours later. "They will start the process immediately."

Perhaps he thought it was true, or perhaps he thought his faithful followers would believe it. In Duluth, Minnesota, at one of his political rallies. Two weeks ago, he announced that the North Koreans had already returned 200 bodies

No, it did not happen and did not happen. Thursday, when a team of Commanders US officers presented themselves at the truce village of Panmunjom, ready to meet a North Korean team to discuss the details of the return of the remains, the North Koreans defended them.

Probably the most important moment of waiting for the United Nations delegation. the North-South line buildings, in what is known as the "common security zone", were North Koreans who took the trouble to call for an "emergency line" They had not used it for years. not only between colonels on either side, but between g

Negotiations are ongoing on Sunday – the first between American and North Korean generals in nine years. And the emphasis on rank suggests how much the North Koreans see the whole question of leftovers. They hope to use it to warm the hearts of South Koreans and Americans at a time when "denuclearization" negotiations are showing no sign of public progress.

Assuming Sunday's meeting happens, it will be the only substantial nine-hour dividend of the embarrassing negotiations of Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang last weekend with Kim Yong Chol, Party Vice President workers (under President Kim) and former Chief of Intelligence of the Northern Military Machine.

For North Koreans, haggling the return of leftovers is a wise move. "It seems to be part of the NK game plan to use the talks and the alleged existence of US remains to lure the US and push Washington to make concessions," said Evans Revere, former deputy chief of the US mission in Seoul. . an email. "Doing it at the level of the general officer adds to the drama.In recent years, North Korea has used American civilians as de facto hostages to demonstrate that it had the upper hand and to put the states In the position of supplicant, Pyongyang now does this with the remains of the deceased US military. "

At this point, it is unclear exactly how many remains will be returned, whether the North will want to return them in batches or s & # 39; it will also require "

" It's become so weird, "said Stephen Tharp, who attended the delivery of the remains on several occasions during his long career as an officer of the 39. Army. "They will say that they have a lot of leftovers, we have no idea what that means."

In fact, in 2005, the war of words between the United States and North Korea has worsened and their nuclear program has progressed. mpu the return of the remains after conducting "joint recovery operations" for nearly 10 years, and 629 of the 5,300 US soldiers missing in North Korea during the war 65 years ago, this month, 39 armistice was signed at Panmunjom.

The Americans firmly refuse to pay for the remains, but they signed an agreement in 1993 to pay $ 892,000 to the North Koreans. I will definitely ask for the payment this time, but that's not all, according to those who have been following the drama for years.

"Yeah, I think it's money," said Victor Cha, a Georgetown professor who focused on Korea while he was on the board. national security under the presidency of George W. Bush, "but generals can also say something else."

this "something else" that will consume the energies and emotions of generals while they bargain on bones GIs who have perished in long-time battles, unknown and unknown to most Americans. The Korean War, with no clear victory to proclaim, remains largely forgotten. But as Trump seems to have believed since his campaign debut, North Koreans agree that restoring the remnants of MIA, giving death to their descendants, is a gesture of goodwill that will help Pyongyang's peace will. 19659002] To this end, the North Koreans have on their side the President of South Korea, Moon Jae-in. "The goal of our government is to declare the official end of the Korean War this year," said Moon in an interview with a Singapore newspaper during her visit this week. Such an agreement, he said, "will lay a stone for the permanent peace process with denuclearization and a peace treaty between North and South."

Americans could see this discussion as a trick to weaken the United States. alliance and cause the withdrawal of US troops from 28,500, but they are reluctant to say so. Meanwhile, they are wondering what the North Koreans will do to get rid of their nuclear weapons and their missiles. With Trump playing the remains as of paramount importance to American families who lost their loved ones in the Korean War, North Koreans know that they play an important role.

"North Koreans take their time as remnants of remains that Trump badly wants, not North Koreans," said Shim Jae Hoon, a seasoned commentator of the Far Eastern Economic Review and Yale Global: They play "the game of waiting until Washington offers one or more concessions, as a declaration of the end of the conflict – another springboard for negotiating the withdrawal of US troops." [19659002] The return of the remains is not always a political event.On Friday, the US and South Korean commanders stood with their heads down while the military bands played the national anthems of both countries – and hit two soldiers, A South Korean, the other American

The South Korean died in North Korea, killed north of Pyongyang.His remains were returned years ago with those of Americans and only after a thorough forensic examination was i l determined to be Korean.In fact, DNA analysis has even confirmed its precise identity.

Generally, remains are flown to Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii where the POW / MIA Defense Agency is responsible for reviewing what remains to be seen. This is a process to which all remains are subject – and may well reveal that all the remains that North Koreans have indicated that they will come back are not actually American.

At the ceremony on Friday, there was no doubt about the American who had died in one of the bloodiest battles of the war in the mountainous central region below what is now the demilitarized zone.

The ceremony was held at the Korean National Cemetery. It was an end that the Americans intend to piece together for the remains, ultimately, of more Americans than the North Koreans hold hostage in the cold and calculating process as they play on the Trump's politics and the desire for reconciliation to last.