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US, North
Korea End Stalemate Over MIA Remains
By Rudi Williams
American Forces Press Service
WASHINGTON -- Deputy Assistant Defense Secretary Bob Jones left
Oct. 21 to accept remains believed to be four Korean War GIs that North Korean
officials refused to repatriate last May. Jones is the chief of DoD's Office of
POW/Missing Personnel Affairs. His trip is the result of an Oct. 14 agreement
US and North Korean officials negotiated in New York to end the five-month-old
stalemate, spokesman Larry Greer said. Greer said the remains were recovered by
a U.S.-North Korean recovery team in northwest North Korea near where other
remains were found on earlier excavations. He said negotiators agreed to
establish procedures for repatriating of remains at the airport in Pyongyang,
the North Korean capital. After receiving the remains, Jones will launch the
sixth joint U.S.-North Korean search and recovery operation in that country
this year. The operation is part of an agreement hammered out by the two
countries in December 1998 that calls for six joint operations between April
and November 1999. The agreement also included two joint archival reviews,
during which US archivists can access North Korean documents relating to US
personnel lost or captured during the Korean War. Jones went to North Korea to
keep a pledge. He said that when the stalemate began in May he vowed to
families of missing servicemen and to veterans organizations to "do
everything I could to ensure that this impasse was resolved and that the remains
were repatriated." His agenda is to fly the remains to Yokota Air Base,
Japan, for appropriate repatriation ceremonies, then to continue to Hickam Air
Force Base, Hawaii. There, the remains will be given to the Army's Central
Identification Laboratory for identification purposes. Jones said the United
States has asked the North Koreans for greater access to areas such as the
Chosin Reservoir and former POW camps, where greater numbers of missing might
be found. The Chinese government is helping the US coordinate meetings with the
North Koreans, Jones said, which "shows an increased level of corporation
on behalf of the Chinese government, and that's very important to us."
Jones said there are 8,215 American servicemen still missing from the Korean
War. Each service has established a toll-free number to keep families advised
of Korean War and Cold War remains recovery operations. Family members should
contact the appropriate service casualty office to provide their name, address
and relationship to their loved one. The Army number is 1-800-892-2490
The Navy's, 1-800-443-9298
The Air Force's, 1-800-531-5501
The Marine Corps', 1-800-847-1597
Families of civilians missing from these conflicts may contact the State
Department at (202) 647-6769.