U.S. aircraft in N. Korea to retreive remains of American troops: Report
- 6 years ago
It’s one of the promises made at the summit in Singapore last month,… North Korea returning the POW and MIA remains,… including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.
And on this Friday,… marking the anniversary of the signing the armistice agreement,… North Korea is said to be sending back the remains of the American war dead.
For more on this we go straight live to our Lee Ji-won standing by at Seoul’s foreign ministry for us.
Ji-won, what do we know so far?
Semin, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported earlier today, citing government sources, that a U.S. aircraft left South Korea's Osan Air Base at around 6 a.m., and is expected to have arrived in North Korea about an hour later.
The 55 empty wooden caskets that were sent to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom last month were reportedly taken by the North, and, according to the official, that U.S. aircraft will be bringing them back later today with the remains inside.
While many are expecting that to take place in the morning, there's been no official announcement from the U.S., the North or UN Command.
Ji-won, so once the remains arrive here in the South what will happen next?
According to reports earlier this week, citing U.S. officials, a team of American forensic specialists will do an in-depth examination of the remains,... looking for any identification like dog tags or uniforms, and that's expected to take about five days.
The remains will likely be transferred to the metal coffins that have been prepared at the airbase during this process.
Then afterwards, a ceremony will be held at the base to honor the fallen, before their remains are flown to Hawaii for DNA identification, which will take months.
Now this comes as generals from the U.S. and North Korea met last week about the return of the remains, which was part of the agreement reached by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump last month in Singapore.
And so this move by Pyongyang is likely to help build trust between it and Washington, and could add momentum to their talks.
That's all from me, but I'll be back with more updates in our later newscast.
And on this Friday,… marking the anniversary of the signing the armistice agreement,… North Korea is said to be sending back the remains of the American war dead.
For more on this we go straight live to our Lee Ji-won standing by at Seoul’s foreign ministry for us.
Ji-won, what do we know so far?
Semin, South Korea's Yonhap News Agency reported earlier today, citing government sources, that a U.S. aircraft left South Korea's Osan Air Base at around 6 a.m., and is expected to have arrived in North Korea about an hour later.
The 55 empty wooden caskets that were sent to the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjom last month were reportedly taken by the North, and, according to the official, that U.S. aircraft will be bringing them back later today with the remains inside.
While many are expecting that to take place in the morning, there's been no official announcement from the U.S., the North or UN Command.
Ji-won, so once the remains arrive here in the South what will happen next?
According to reports earlier this week, citing U.S. officials, a team of American forensic specialists will do an in-depth examination of the remains,... looking for any identification like dog tags or uniforms, and that's expected to take about five days.
The remains will likely be transferred to the metal coffins that have been prepared at the airbase during this process.
Then afterwards, a ceremony will be held at the base to honor the fallen, before their remains are flown to Hawaii for DNA identification, which will take months.
Now this comes as generals from the U.S. and North Korea met last week about the return of the remains, which was part of the agreement reached by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump last month in Singapore.
And so this move by Pyongyang is likely to help build trust between it and Washington, and could add momentum to their talks.
That's all from me, but I'll be back with more updates in our later newscast.