US-North Korea agree on MIA remains

[Ed Evanhoe <ede@oio.net>]

>
>
>= N  E  W  S      R  E  L  E  A  S  E
>=
>= OFFICE OF THE ASSISTANT SECRETARY OF DEFENSE
>= (PUBLIC AFFAIRS)
>= WASHINGTON, D.C. 20301
>=
>= PLEASE NOTE DATE
>====================================================
>
>No. 751-00
>(703)695-0192(media)
>IMMEDIATE RELEASE
>December 18, 2000
>(703)697-5737(public/industry)
>U.S., NORTH KOREA REACH AGREEMENT ON MIA REMAINS RECOVERY
>      U.S. and North Korean negotiators have reached an agreement for 2001
>under which joint teams will recover the remains of Americans missing in
>action from the Korean War, marking the sixth consecutive year that the
>United States will conduct remains recovery operations in North Korea.
>      The agreement, following four days of negotiations in Kuala Lumpur,
>Malaysia, led by the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, expands similar
>operations that have been conducted since 1996.
>      The 2001 agreement significantly expands the size of the U.S. teams,
>increases the length of U.S. activities and adds areas of operations around
>the Chosin Reservoir to the current areas in Unsan and Kujang counties,
>approximately 60 miles north of the capital of Pyongyang.
>      Ten operations will be conducted in the three areas between April and
>November.  Each operation will last 32 days - up from 26 days each in 2000.
>Repatriation of remains will follow immediately thereafter.  The increase in
>the number of days essentially equates to 60 additional days, or two complete
>operations, beyond the levels set in the 2000 schedules.  The U.S. component
>of the joint teams was expanded to 28 members from 20.
>      The agreement also establishes a procedure for sharing records and data
>related to witness interviews, potential burial locations and other
>information not previously made available by the North Koreans.
>      During the five operations in 2000 in the Unsan and Kujang areas, joint
>teams recovered 65 sets of remains.  Forty-two were recovered in the four
>previous years.  Five have been positively identified, with another 10
>nearing the final stages of identification.  More than 8,100 servicemen are
>missing in action from the Korean War.
>      Operations in 2001 will include areas of investigation near Kaechon,
>approximately 18 miles south of Unsan and Kujang.  Kaechon includes an area
>nicknamed the "Gauntlet," where the U.S. Army's 2nd Infantry Division
>conducted its famous fighting withdrawal along a narrow road through six
>miles of Chinese ambush positions during November and December 1950.  More
>than 950 missing in action soldiers are believed to be located in these three
>areas.
>      The Chosin Reservoir campaign left approximately 750 Marines and
>soldiers missing in action from both the east and west sides of the reservoir
>in northeastern North Korea.
>      The field teams are comprised primarily of specialists from the U.S.
>Army Central Identification Laboratory Hawaii (CILHI), where the forensic
>identification work is done after the remains are repatriated.  In addition
>to the mission of recovering and identifying remains from the Korea War,
>CILHI has the same responsibility in accounting for MIAs from the Vietnam
>War, the Cold War, and WWII.
>      More information on U.S. recovery efforts is available at
>http://www.dtic.mil/dpmo or 
><http://www.cilhi.army.mil/>http://www.cilhi.army.mil/.
>-END-

Ed Evanhoe, PO Box 916, Antlers, OK, 74523  Ph. 580-298-3795
Author: DARKMOON: Eighth Army Special Operations in the Korean War
Life Member:  Special Forces and Special Operations Associations
Web site:  http://www.korean-war.com