By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
South Korea is fully dedicated to finding the remains of those lost in the 1950-53 Korean War, though the task is daunting with more than 130,000 servicemen not yet accounted for, Col. Park Shin-han, chief of the military's war remains excavation agency said Tuesday.
``About 130,000 fallen heroes who sacrificed themselves for the nation still remain buried in unknown fields and mountains across the country,'' Park, who heads the Ministry of National Defense's Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and Identification (MAKRI).
``Their remains are not just ashes of the dead, but pillars that have helped our nation achieve peace and prosperity. We should never forget what they gave this country,'' he said. ``We'll make the utmost effort to find a piece of the remains and return it to their families. That's our solemn responsibility.''
The Army launched its operations to recover the remains of war dead in 2000 and the mission was transferred to MARKI in 2003. Park's team has 134 members, including forensic and archeological specialists.
About 1,890 remains of soldiers killed in the war have been recovered since 2000, said Park. Of them, 72 have been identified through DNA tests and 42 of the identified remains were handed over to the families concerned, he said.
The Korean War, often called the ``Forgotten War,'' resulted in a devastating death toll. According to defense ministry data, some 137,000 South Korean soldiers lost their lives, while 20,000 were listed as missing in action.
Foreign records show that at least 400,000 South Korean troops and two million civilians were killed, and up to 1.5 million communist troops from North Korea and China were killed. Some 8,100 U.S. military personnel are still missing from the war, according to reports.
``The most important thing is ordinary people's attention to this war remains recovery project,'' Park said. ``The information given by the people is crucial given a lack of data on the locations of the remains.''
MARKI and its U.S. counterpart the Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action (MIA) and Accounting Command (JPAC) affiliated with the U.S. Department of Defense agreed to conduct joint recovery and identification of remains of their fallen soldiers, he said. The two agencies plan to sign an agreement on bilateral cooperation next month.
Under the agreement, the two sides will share information related to the recovery and identification of the remains of fallen soldiers and conduct joint operations on a regular basis, he said. JPAC will also help train officials of the South Korean agency.