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President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed the parents of a Korean War soldiers asked for his help in returning the remains of their son during the 2016 presidential campaign.
- President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed the parents of Korean War soldiers asked for his help in returning the remains of their sons during the 2016 presidential campaign, but his assertion doesn't quite add up.
- The vast majority of parents of Korean War vets are likely deceased, based on when the conflict occurred (1950-53).
- The document Trump signed with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un included an agreement to return prisoner of war / missing in action remains and repatriate those already identified.
President Donald Trump on Wednesday claimed the parents of Korean War soldiers asked for his help in returning the remains of their sons during the 2016 presidential campaign, but his assertion doesn't quite add up.
"One of the things that really I'm happy is that the soldiers that died in Korea, their remains are going to be coming back home," Trump said during a Fox News interview. "And we have thousands of people that have asked for that - thousands and thousands of people."
"So many people asked when I was on the campaign," Trump added. "I'd say, 'wait a minute, I don't have any relationship' - but they said, 'when you can, president, we'd love our son to be brought back home' - you know, the remains."
Trump was referring to a document he signed on Tuesday with North Korea leader Kim Jong Un, which included an agreement to return prisoner of war / missing in action remains and repatriate those already identified.
The president is correct that there are families still calling for the remains of their relatives who fought and died in the Korean War to be returned to the US. But his claim the parents of soldiers who fought in the war spoke to him in 2016 is suspicious, given that they would've been roughly 100 years old at the time based on when the war occurred. In other words, the vast majority of parents of Korean War veterans are likely dead.
The Korean War was fought between 1950 and 1953. It's technically ongoing and the fighting stopped via an armistice.