News-Info-Alerts

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Re: DPMO Update

Date: December 22, 2000

Defense POW/MIA Weekly Update

December 22, 2000

U.S., NORTH KOREA REACH AGREEMENT ON MIA REMAINS RECOVERY

U.S. and North Korean negotiators have reached an agreement for 2001 under which joint teams will recover the remains of Americans missing in action from the Korean War, marking the sixth consecutive year that the United States will conduct remains recovery operations in North Korea.

The agreement, following four days of negotiations in Kuala Lumpur, Malaysia, led by DPMO, expands similar operations that have been conducted since 1996.

The 2001 agreement significantly expands the size of the U.S. teams, increases the length of U.S. activities and adds areas of operations around the Chosin Reservoir to the current areas in Unsan and Kujang counties.

Ten operations will be conducted in the three areas between April and November. Each operation will last 32 days-up from 26 days each in 2000. Repatriation of remains will follow immediately thereafter. The increase in the number of days essentially equates to 60 additional days, or two complete operations, beyond the levels set in the 2000 schedules. The U.S. component of the joint teams was expanded to 28 members from 20.

The agreement also establishes a procedure for sharing records and data related to witness interviews, potential burial locations and other information not previously made available by the North Koreans.

During the five operations in 2000 in the Unsan and Kujang areas, joint teams recovered 65 sets of remains. Forty-two were recovered in the four previous years. Five have been positively identified, with another 10 nearing the final stages of identification. More than 8,100 servicemen are missing in action from the Korean War.

Operations in 2001 will include areas of investigation near Kaechon, approximately 18 miles south of Unsan and Kujang. Kaechon includes an area nicknamed the "Gauntlet," where the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division conducted its famous fighting withdrawal along a narrow road through six miles of Chinese ambush positions during November and December 1950. More than 950 missing in action soldiers are believed to be located in these three areas.

The Chosin Reservoir campaign left approximately 750 Marines and soldiers missing in action from both the east and west sides of the reservoir in northeastern North Korea.

The field teams are comprised primarily of specialists from the U.S. Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI), where the forensic identification work is done after the remains are repatriated. In addition to the mission of recovering and identifying remains from the Korea War, CILHI has the same responsibility in accounting for MIAs from the Vietnam War, the Cold War, and World War II.

DPMO DIRECTOR ADDRESSES THE DEPARTMENT OF VETERANS AFFAIRS

At the personal invitation of Hershel Gober, Secretary of Veterans Affairs, the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW and Missing Personnel Affairs, Robert L. Jones, recently spoke at a gathering of Department of Veterans Affairs (DVA) personnel, members of the White House staff, and leaders of veterans' service organizations.

Speaking at DVA Headquarters, Jones used the occasion to briefly discuss the history of DPMO, to update the audience on his initiatives in Southeast Asia, Korea, and China, and to publicize the DPMO Marketing Display, which was arranged in the foyer to the auditorium.

Jones was particularly pleased to speak about his opportunity to accompany President Clinton on his recent trip to Vietnam. He noted that the day-to-day work of DPMO and its partners, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting and the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii, helped make the President's trip possible. He repeated the words the President spoke at the presumed crash site of Capt. Lawrence Evert, "Our nation has made a commitment that we will not rest until we've achieved the fullest possible accounting for our lost veterans."

In the aftermath of the meeting Jones noted the speech and the marketing display were successes. He also said that it's gratifying to hear the President succinctly tell the world DPMO's mission statement-it shows the importance of our work.

DPMO PARTICIPATES IN VOICE OF AMERICA BROADCAST

DPMO personnel participated in the Voice of America television, radio, and internet simulcast "Talk to America," on December 4th. The producer of "Talk to America," Ms. Irina Burgener, requested they appear on the program to help discuss the "Bring Them Home Alive Act of 2000," which was signed into law by President Clinton on November 9th.

The purpose of this law is to ensure every possible effort is made to produce living, unaccounted-for Americans from the Vietnam and the Korean Wars. The law provides for the granting of refugee status to any national of Vietnam, Cambodia, Laos, China, or the Former Soviet Union (FSU) "who personally delivers into the custody of the U.S. government a living American MIA or POW from the Vietnam War." The law provides identical provisions for nationals of North Korea, China, or the FSU in regards to the Korean War. The final provision of the law (and the reason for the broadcast) directs the International Broadcasting Bureau, which administers Voice of America, to broadcast information promoting the refugee aspects of the law to countries covered by the act.

By law Voice of America can only broadcast overseas, so this program was not transmitted in the U.S. Also appearing on the program was a representative of the Immigration and Naturalization Service, and Ms. Donna Knox, President of the Coalition of Families of Korean and Cold War POW/MIAs.

The DPMO attendees informed Ms. Carol Pearson, the hostess of "Talk to America," of the provisions of the law, and they took the opportunity after every break to say that the U.S. government's top priority is repatriation of unaccounted-for Americans. They also explained that DPMO and its partners currently have mechanisms in place to debrief people who claim to be missing American servicemen, and that experts can interview these people within hours of their arrival at a U.S. embassy or consulate office.

In answer to Ms. Pearson's concerns about possible acts of reprisal from a repressive government toward an individual who attempts to gain U.S. refugee status, the DPMO representatives urged people to use common sense and good judgment before they act.

LAOS AGREES TO PERMIT 50 PARTICIPANTS ON JOINT FIELD ACTIVITIES

On December 5th the Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for POW and Missing Personnel Affairs, Robert L. Jones announced a major breakthrough in negotiations with the Lao government, when the Lao agreed to increase Joint Field Activity (JFA) personnel limitations from 40 to 50. The immediate impact of this decision is to increase the pace of recovery operations. The increase is made possible because the U.S. will now be able to deploy five personnel recovery teams, as opposed to four.

The breakthrough occurred in consultative talks held in Vientiane, Laos between Lao officials and U.S. negotiators from DPMO, Joint Task Force-Full Accounting (JTF-FA), and the Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI). Prior to these talks DPMO employed a three-step strategy to achieve the ultimate agreement. First, Jones conducted an official visit to Laos in August, in which he expressed U.S. desires for operational changes in JFAs. Two weeks later Jones hosted the Lao Vice Foreign Minister for Foreign Affairs, Phongsavath Boupha, in an effort to gain his support of the changes ? the second step of the strategy. JTF-FA and CILHI also hosted Boupha to support the second step of the strategy. The third step was a series of frank discussions on improving the pace of operations at an operational review meeting held in Hawaii in September.

During these consultative talks the Lao agreed to two other operational changes desired by the U.S. These changes will permit JFA extensions on a case-by-case basis, and will permit excavation site selections for future operations on a case-by-case basis, rather than a geographic basis. The U.S. would like the Lao to approve direct medical evacuation flights of U.S. personnel to Thailand, but first, the U.S. must make an agreement with the Thai government.

In total, these changes will improve the pace and efficiency of recovery operations in Laos.

Published by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office 2400 Defense Pentagon Washington, DC 20301-2400 (703) 602-2102 www.dtic.mil/dpmo