A U.S. aircraft flew to North Korea on Friday to collect the remains of American troops killed in the Korean War, the South’s Yonhap news agency reported, the latest step in ongoing diplomacy between Washington and Pyongyang.
Repatriation of American remains from the 1950-53 conflict was part of the agreement signed between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their summit in Singapore last month.
The U.S. military transport plane took off from the Osan Air Base in South Korea at 5:55 a.m. local time (2055 GMT Thursday), Yonhap said, citing a Seoul government source.
The aircraft’s destination was the Kalma airport in North Korea’s eastern city of Wonsan, the agency added.
“It is believed to have landed there an hour later,” the official was quoted as saying. “It will return [to South Korea] today.” Friday is the 65th anniversary of the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.
Repatriations begin
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said last week that the repatriations would begin soon but did not confirm media reports about the first transfer of some 50 sets of remains.
The South Korean official cited by Yonhap said it was unclear how many sets of remains would be returned.
U.S. defense officials are expected to examine the remains in South Korea before sending them on for forensic identification in Hawaii, the agency added.
About 7,700 Americans MIA
More than 35,000 Americans were killed on the Korean Peninsula during the war, out of which about 7,700 are considered missing, including 5,300 in North Korea, according to the Pentagon.
Between 1990 and 2005, 229 sets of remains from the North were repatriated, but those operations were suspended when ties deteriorated over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons program.
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