Over the last several days,
developments have come up regarding U.S.remains in North Korea. The Associated
Press has written two articles about this and the Department of Defense
POW/MIA Office (DPMO) has reported information to us about an offer made
by the North Koreans.
In short, last week the
North Korean Mission at the U.N. wrote a letter to several veterans
organizations, announcing that North Korea had discovered the remains of
American servicemen from the Korean War. When the Associated Press followed
up to do an article, their reporter was told by Li Gun, a representative at the
North Korean mission at the United Nations, that some 415 sets of remains had
been located and that, essentially, the North Korean Government was ready to
hand them over to the U.S. Government.
Meanwhile, DPMO
reported some reservations about the sincerity of the North Koreans' offer, and
an expectation that there was a 'catch' that would show itself as the situation
unfolded.
Monday (Jan 31st) the
Associated Press wrote a second article which reported that North Korea had
suggested that the U.S. send a forensics experts team to North Korea
to evaluate the site of the remains they claimed to have found. The North
Koreans also gave the name of an American whose dog tag they said had
been found along with the remains. The name reported by AP is Charles E.
Sizemore. According to Pentagon records, Sizemore was a soldier from Rush
County, Ind., who went missing on Nov. 2, 1950.
DPMO reports that there is more
to this situation than is suggested in the AP article. Deputy Director, Alan Liotta,
says that he discussed the offer with Li Gun. According to Liotta, Li Gun told him
that the North Koreans had actually only unearthed one or two sets of remains,
and that the 415 number is an estimate of how many the Korean People's Army
believe are in the area. Liotta says that his office told the North Koreans two years
ago that the U.S. believes there are about 450 men buried in the area in question.
He said today that the North Koreans were, in effect, feeding our own information
back to us.
According to Liotta, Li Gun
made it quite clear that there are more discussions to be had as to the particulars
of how and when these remains might be recovered and repatriated. To U.S. officials,
this means they should expect another attempt by the North Koreans to link the
turnover of remains to some demand for money or political concession.
Talks in December aimed at
setting the agenda for the Year 2000 joint recovery operations broke down when
the North Koreans demanded that the U.S. provide eight outfits for each of five
million N.K. children as part of the deal to recover remains. U.S. policy is to de-link
the remains repatriation from all other issues. DPMO reports an
estimated cost of perhaps 40 to 50 million dollars to satisfy the North
Koreans' demand.
So the question now is
whether this latest offer by the North Koreans is a genuine attempt to jump
start the failed negotiations, or whether it will turn out to be another
demand for money, services, or political concession.
Alan Liotta says the U.S.
government is actively looking for ways to continue the dialogue and promote an
aggressive recovery agenda for this year. He emphasizes, however, that US policy
remains one of de-linkage. He says limits and policies have to be set and
adhered to with the North Koreans, or they will make increasing demands, holding
the remains and all other cooperation on the accounting effort, in effect, hostage.
The site in question
reportedly is in the Unsan area of North Korea, where the 1st and 2nd Infantry
Divisions and the 8th Calvary engaged in fierce battles with the Chinese in
November and December of 1950. The Americans suffered heavy casualties
in these battles, and it is expected that hundreds of men were buried in the area.
Previous joint operations in this area have resulted in the recovery of
remains believed to be those of U.S. servicemen.
The Coalition will continue
to follow the news on this latest offer from the North Koreans, and any
developments in setting recovery operations for this year. While we can
understand the need to resist political maneuvering that is clearly unreasonable,
or that would ultimately be counter productive to the recovery effort, we still
expect the fullest possible accounting for our missing servicemen. That objective,
undoubtedly, will require considerable diplomacy and creative policy initiatives.
A complete impasse, written off by each side as the other's fault, will not be acceptable.
N. Koreans
To Let U.S. Inspect Area January 31, 2000
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- North Korea invited the
United States on Monday to send
forensics experts to an area where the communist government says it unearthed
hundreds of human remains that may be American servicemen killed in the Korean
War.
The Pentagon said the offer
is under review. To bolster its claim that the remains are American, North Korea
released a name from a military identification tag it said was found among the
remains. The name is Charles E. Sizemore. According to Pentagon records,
Sizemore was a soldier from Rush County, Ind., who went missing on Nov. 2,
1950 -- a date that coincides with major clashes in the part of North Korea
where the remains are claimed to have been found.
Last week the North Koreans
informed U.S. officials last week that it had found approximately 415 sets of
human remains during bulldozing operations at a land reclamation project. It
invited the United States to retrieve the remains in Pyongyang, the North
Korean capital. The Pentagon balked, saying it needed more details about the
discovery.
On Monday, Li Gun, deputy
North Korean representative at his country's mission at the United Nations,
said in a telephone interview the Korean People's Army had invited the Pentagon
to send a "fact-finding team" to the land reclamation project to verify that
the remains are those of American servicemen.
It's up to the U.S. side,"
Li said. Li sent a letter Monday to Alan Liotta of the Pentagon's POW-MIA office
conveying what he described as a message from the Korean People's Army. The
letter questioned whether the Pentagon was serious about recovering war remains.
"If the U.S. refuses
to recover the remains at this time, it should be responsible for the
consequences resulting therefrom," the letter said. Li provided The
Associated Press with a copy of the letter.
Kenneth Bacon, spokesman
for Defense Secretary William Cohen, said the Pentagon was reviewing Li's
offer. "We are committed to identifying and returning remains of Americans
who served in the Korean or any other war," Bacon said. "Our policy
is that the return of remains is a humanitarian act and should be decoupled from
politics or extraordinary payments. We look forward to working with the North
Koreans to return remains in accordance with our policy."
Li said the land reclamation
project, which he said was known as land rezoning in North Korea, was
temporarily suspended in certain areas to enable a U.S. fact-finding team to
verify the human remains.
"The KPA cannot
postpone the rezoning indefinitely, and therefore the U.S. side should come to
the site and make a decision without delay," the letter said. It added
that the remains unearthed so far include military identification tags, buttons
and helmets, as well as personal belongings.
Li said last Friday that
approximately 415 sets of human remains were uncovered in December and January
in an area of North Pyongan province, where large areas of land are being
cleared to create farmland. He said it is likely that many more remains will be
found before the reclamation project is completed.
About 8,200 U.S. servicemen
are listed as missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, and the Pentagon has said it
believes a few thousand are potentially recoverable from North Korea. In U.S.
recovery operations over the past few years, 42 sets of remains have been
recovered.
Negotiations on arranging
joint recovery operations for this year broke down in December after the North
Koreans demanded that the United States donate materials and equipment for
children's clothing factories.
Li said that in the view of
the Korean People's Army, the United States is defeating its own purpose by
refusing to talk about humanitarian assistance as part of the remains recovery
operation.
"If the U.S. is to
resolve the (remains) issue, it should hold talks or, if not, do as it
wishes," he wrote in the letter to Liotta.
Korean War
Remains Discovered
January 28, 2000
By ROBERT BURNS
AP Military Writer
WASHINGTON (AP) -- North Korea has
discovered more than 400 remains of people likely to be American servicemen
killed in the Korean War, a deputy North Korean representative to the United
Nations said Friday. Li Gun said his country has offered to return the remains,
without conditions. He said the U.S. government would have to act quickly,
because the area where the remains were found in December and January is
being converted to cropland.
At the Pentagon office in
charge of POW-MIA affairs, spokesman Larry Greer said North Korea notified the
Pentagon of the discovery this week. "We've asked for more details,"
Greer said. He said his office is leery of unilateral returns of war remains,
because in the past they OW/M lacked the anthropological detail needed for
individual identifications.
In a telephone interview from
his New York office, Li said his government believes it will find many more
remains, beyond the approximately 415 already uncovered, in an area of North
Pyongan Province where land is being moved to create cropland.
About 8,200 U.S. servicemen
are listed as missing from the 1950-53 Korean War, and the Pentagon has said it
believes a few thousand are potentially recoverable from North Korea. In joint
recovery operations over the past few years, 42 sets of remains have been
recovered.
Negotiations on arranging
joint recovery operations for this year broke down in December after the North
Koreans demanded that the United States donate materials and equipment for
children's clothing factories.
On Tuesday, Li's office
sent letters to several U.S. veterans organizations that said, "Some
remains of the U.S. troops killed in the Korean War are being recovered by
bulldozers." The letter did not mention the 400 figure. It said that once
the land-moving operation is finished, "It will be difficult for us to confirm
the remains sites and unable to find the remains forever."
Frank Metersky of the
Chosin Few group of Korean War veterans said Friday he doubts the North
Koreans' sincerity. "We all agree this is a political ploy" to get
the Pentagon involved in humanitarian assistance as a condition for the return
of remains, he said. "We do not want our government to pay ransom."
Li said his government had
"suggested" but not demanded that the United States donate children's
clothing factories as a means of compensating North Korea for its cooperation
in remains-recovery operations. He said the intent was to show average North
Korean citizens, whose help he said is vitalto recovering remains, that the
United States is well intentioned and is no longer the enemy.