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Photos show the emotional repatriation ceremony marking the return of US troops who died in the Korean War
Photos show the emotional repatriation ceremony marking the return of US troops who died in the Korean War
David ChoiAug 3, 2018, 02:50 IST
United Nations Command honor guards inspect caskets containing the remains of U.S. soldiers who were killed in the Korean War and collected in North Korea before a repatriation ceremony at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, on Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. North Korea handed over 55 boxes of the remains last week as part of agreements reached during a historic June summit between its leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.Jung Yeon-je/AP
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A formal repatriation ceremony was held at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam, Hawaii for the 55 crates of what are believed to be the remains of US service members from the Korean War.
US military aircraft flew the remains, which were held in North Korea for around 65 years, to South Korea last week before transporting them to Hawaii where a forensic lab will perform identification tests. Around 5,300 US remains are still believed to be in North Korea, and the US has long sought them to bring closure to the families of the war dead and missing.
"Today, we prove these heroes were never forgotten," Vice President Mike Pence said at the ceremony. "Today, our boys are coming home."
Here's what the repatriation of the US remains from North Korea looked like:
In a joint statement between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, the two leaders pledged to "commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified."
In a symbolic move, North Korea returned 55 sets of remains on the same day of the 65th anniversary of the armistice that paused Korean War hostilities.
Over 7,700 US troops are still unaccounted for from the Korea War. Around 5,300 US remains are believed to be in North Korea.
A single US dog tag was provided by the North Koreans with the remains. It is unclear whether the remains of the service member who the dog tag belonged to was included, however, the service member's family was notified.
Vice President Mike Pence delivered an emotional speech at the ceremony.
"We will never stop striving until every hero lost in the Korean War is home," Pence said at the ceremony.
In a late-night tweet on Wednesday, Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for returning the remains, which the US hopes will be the first of many transfers.
"Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong Un for keeping your word & starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen!" Trump said on Twitter . "I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action."
But some of the remains returned by North Korea may not even be from humans.
In previous cases, North Korea reportedly turned over the remains of animal bones, according to a North Korean diplomat who defected in 2016.
It is unclear whether North Korea intentionally included the animal bones to deceive forensic analysts or were unable to differentiate them with human bones.
Still, forensic experts who received the latest batch of remains were hopeful.
Dr. John Byrd, the US Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency's laboratory director, said that an initial review suggests the latest remains "are likely to be American."
