By Kim Bo-eun
North Korea and the U.S. held general-level talks on repatriating the remains of U.S. soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War, at the truce village of Panmunjeom, Sunday.
The talks about war remains were rescheduled to be held Sunday, after the North did not show up at an earlier-set colonel-level meeting last Thursday. It instead proposed the same day to the United Nations Command (UNC) to hold general-level talks on Sunday.
It is the first general-level meeting between North Korea and the U.S. in nine years since the last one in March 2009.
Michael Minihan, chief of staff for the UNC and U.S. Forces Korea (USFK), led the U.S delegation, according to South Korean government sources. From the North, a general, who was believed to be from the Korean People's Army, attended.
Talks on repatriating war remains to the U.S. came more than a month after the agreement was reached between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump at their June 12 summit in Singapore.
The USFK sent 100 wooden cases to Panmunjeom last month in which to send the remains first to the Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. It also has around 150 coffins ready at the base to take the remains to the U.S.
Speculations had grown that at the meeting they could also discuss the matter of declaring an end to the Korean War that previously concluded in an armistice. This is based on the fact that U.S.-led U.N. forces were among the signatories of the armistice.
Declaring an end to the war is something North Korea has been seeking as a means to remove hostilities and threats from the U.S., and to protect its regime.
North Korea is seen to have sought the declaration to be made promptly at high-level talks with the U.S. held earlier this month.
According to a statement released by North Korea's foreign ministry after talks attended by U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in Pyongyang, ㅜNorth Korea brought up ending the war multiple times but the U.S. proposed postponing the matter.
The U.S. appears to be seeking concrete denuclearization actions from North Korea before a declaration ending the war can be made.
It is yet to be seen whether progress on repatriating U.S. war remains could lead to an impetus in the stalled denuclearization talks.
Pompeo last week referred to the repatriation of the war remains as being “important not just to American families, but to building trust between the U.S. and North Korea as well.”
Around 7,700 Americans still remain unaccounted for on the Korean Peninsula, with around 5,300 believed to be located in North Korea. According to data from the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, the U.S. received around 629 bodies from North Korea between 1990 and 2005, 334 of which were identified.