News-Info-Alerts

Re: US - NK agree on New Searches

To: ALL

From: Andi Wolos & Bob Necci

(POW-MIA InterNetwork)

Date: June 11, 2002

"U.S., N. Korea agree on new MIA searches

Associated Press

BANGKOK, Thailand — North Korean and U.S. negotiators have agreed on the specifics of a new round of joint searches for the remains of American soldiers missing in action from the Korean War.

Under the agreement, reached in Bangkok after three days of talks, three 30-day searches will be undertaken in North Korea beginning July 20, said a U.S. government statement Tuesday.

So far, 22 such operations conducted in North Korea since 1996 have recovered remains believed to be those of 152 American soldiers. Eleven have been identified and about 10 others are in the final stages of the forensic identification process.

Search teams consisting of 28 members will survey sites on the western shores of the Chosin Reservoir, the statement said, without elaborating. U.S. forces suffered heavy casualties in the area in fighting in late 1950, when many Americans were hastily buried in shallow graves during a retreat.

The teams typically include mortuary affairs specialists, medics, and anthropologists. Any remains that are excavated will be repatriated by about the end of October, the statement said.

The searches are conducted between April and November because the ground is frozen during winter.

The chief U.S. negotiator in Bangkok was Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense Jerry D. Jennings, the statement said.

More than 8,100 American military personnel remain missing and unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War. Another 80,000 Americans are missing from other conflicts. "