Remains Recovery and Identification
Recovery Operations in North Korea:
U.S. and North Korean officials
met in Berlin in December to discuss joint remains recovery operations for the
year 2000. North Korea linked any
future operations to a large humanitarian aid package. The U.S. refused the demand because it is
U.S. policy to treat remains returned and other issues separately, so the talks
ended without agreement.
In January, 2000 the North Korean
Mission to the United Nations issued a statement that remains of American
servicemen had been discovered during a land re-zoning project in the North
Pyongan Province, where many men died during fierce combat during the Korean
War. The U.S. 1st and 2nd
Infantry Divisions and the 8th Cavalry fought in this area in
November and December, 1950. The North
Koreans also claimed to have found helmets and other personal belongings,
including the dog tag of one missing American, Charles E. Sizemore. According to DPMO, Sizemore was a soldier
from Rush County, Indiana, who went missing on November 2, 1950. Large battles were fought on that day in
North Pyongan Province.
Information was conflicting, but
at first the North Koreans seemed to be telling people that they had found more
than 400 sets of remains. As days
passed, however, it became apparent that they had unearthed only a few remains,
and speculated that some 400 others could be found in the area, upon further
excavation. They invited U.S. officials
to come pick up the remains that had been recovered, and survey the area for
possible future operations.
DPMO’s response was one of
skepticism. They feared this was a ploy
to circumvent the U.S. position that an agreement needed to be reached,
separate from any requested aid. DPMO
wanted to address such issues as compensation, manner of repatriation of any
remains found; size of teams; location of sites; dates, etc. DPMO also wanted to discourage the North
Koreans from engaging in unilateral recovery operations, because their
techniques and practices tend to make identification less likely in the end.
DPMO proposed a second round of
talks to address this year’s recovery operations, with a special focus on the
area involved in North Korea’s re-zoning program. It was thought that this site could be the first, so that the
land could be excavated promptly and North Korea’s project gotten underway soon
thereafter.
North Korea responded in
mid-February with a letter that once again tied recovery operations to the
humanitarian aid they had requested, and said they would ‘dispose’ of the remains
they had unearthed if the U.S. did not come and get them.
Alan Liotta, handling this matter
for DPMO, wrote a letter back to the North Koreans on February 18th,
in which he cautioned the North Koreans against disposing of the remains. Liotta also proposed a meeting to negotiate
a single joint operation in the North Pyongan Province area, so that any
remains located there can be recovered, clearing the way for the North Koreans’
re-zoning work. This operation would be
a stand alone excavation, and would not be tied to any humanitarian aid. As of this writing in late March, the North
Koreans have not responded to the proposal. Recovery Operations in South Korea:
DPMO and the Republic of South
Korea have reached a tentative agreement that provides for combined remains recovery
operations in South Korea, where many men died in battle and in make-shift POW
camps in the war’s early days. CILHI
presented a list of potential recovery sites to ROK officials for
consideration. An ROK veterans oral
history program was also discussed as a means of identifying loss or burial
sites. Recovery operations are expected
to begin in June.
CILHI has conducted 10 recovery
operations in the past, resulting in the identification of three missing
American servicemen. U.S. and ROK
officials agreed to share technical information and operational experience, and
they plan to gather information from veterans, witnesses and archives.
CILHI (Central Identification Lab
in Hawaii) and AFDIL (DNA testing lab) have continued their efforts to identify
the first two sets of ‘unknown’ remains, which were disinterred last September
from the Punchbowl cemetery in Hawaii.
As of mid March, CILHI had cut strands of DNA from these remains four
times, but AFDIL has been unable to get a DNA sequencing from the samples. It seems that some, and perhaps all, of the
Punchbowl remains were treated prior to burial, and the substance used has
somehow interfered with the DNA, or at least the ability to sequence it. CILHI
officials said they will continue working with forensic experts to resolve the
problems they are having with the Punchbowl remains. We are told that there will be no further disinterments of
Punchbowl remains until this obstacle has been overcome.