ID :
61320
Tue, 05/19/2009 - 16:04
Auther :
Shortlink :
https://www.oananews.org//node/61320
The shortlink copeid
S. Korea, U.S. discover possible remains of American soldier
By Sam Kim
HWACHEON, South Korea, May 19 (Yonhap) -- A joint team of U.S. and South Korean
officials said Tuesday they have excavated a collection of bone fragments and
belongings believed to have come from an American soldier who died in the 1950-53
Korean War.
The fragments, which South Korean Army Col. Park Sin-han said could be parts of
fingers, turned up along with a U.S.-made pen, a bullet, bullet cartridges and a
part of a buckle in the mountainous South Korean region of Hwacheon, 118
kilometers east of Seoul.
"It will take at least six months to fully identify the bones," said Jay
Silverstein, an archaeologist working with the Hawaii-based U.S. Joint Prisoners
of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC).
Three dozen JPAC and South Korean excavators have been working together at four
sites, including Hwacheon, since last week after receiving tips from locals on
where U.S. soldiers may be buried.
About 8,100 U.S. soldiers remain unaccounted for from the Korean War that ended
in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
Silverstein said the May 14-June 13 excavation -- the first time the allies have
integrated as a full excavation team -- could lead to further discoveries and
expressed hope that North Korea would reopen its border to the team.
JPAC officials withdrew from the communist state in 2005 when North Korea
boycotted six-nation denuclearization-for-aid talks and exited a non-nuclear
proliferation pact, raising regional tensions.
The U.S. had received more than 200 sets of remains from North Korea between
1990-1994, according to JPAC. The remains were mingled together, however, making
it difficult to identify them.
About 40 percent of missing soldiers are believed to be buried in North Korea and
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the Koreas, according to South
Korea's defense ministry.
South Korea and the U.S. plan to start an excavation project in the DMZ next
year, Park said. Details have yet to be laid out, said Park, who heads a South
Korean excavation agency that opened in January in Seoul.
South Korea discovered the remains of 2,524 of its soldiers and 11 U.N. troops as
of May 15, according to the Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and
Identification. The remains of about 630 enemy troops were found while another
200 have yet to be identified to determine which side they were on.
The U.S., which fought under the U.N. command, maintains a force of some 28,500
troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
HWACHEON, South Korea, May 19 (Yonhap) -- A joint team of U.S. and South Korean
officials said Tuesday they have excavated a collection of bone fragments and
belongings believed to have come from an American soldier who died in the 1950-53
Korean War.
The fragments, which South Korean Army Col. Park Sin-han said could be parts of
fingers, turned up along with a U.S.-made pen, a bullet, bullet cartridges and a
part of a buckle in the mountainous South Korean region of Hwacheon, 118
kilometers east of Seoul.
"It will take at least six months to fully identify the bones," said Jay
Silverstein, an archaeologist working with the Hawaii-based U.S. Joint Prisoners
of War, Missing in Action Accounting Command (JPAC).
Three dozen JPAC and South Korean excavators have been working together at four
sites, including Hwacheon, since last week after receiving tips from locals on
where U.S. soldiers may be buried.
About 8,100 U.S. soldiers remain unaccounted for from the Korean War that ended
in a truce rather than a peace treaty.
Silverstein said the May 14-June 13 excavation -- the first time the allies have
integrated as a full excavation team -- could lead to further discoveries and
expressed hope that North Korea would reopen its border to the team.
JPAC officials withdrew from the communist state in 2005 when North Korea
boycotted six-nation denuclearization-for-aid talks and exited a non-nuclear
proliferation pact, raising regional tensions.
The U.S. had received more than 200 sets of remains from North Korea between
1990-1994, according to JPAC. The remains were mingled together, however, making
it difficult to identify them.
About 40 percent of missing soldiers are believed to be buried in North Korea and
the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the Koreas, according to South
Korea's defense ministry.
South Korea and the U.S. plan to start an excavation project in the DMZ next
year, Park said. Details have yet to be laid out, said Park, who heads a South
Korean excavation agency that opened in January in Seoul.
South Korea discovered the remains of 2,524 of its soldiers and 11 U.N. troops as
of May 15, according to the Agency for Killed in Action Recovery and
Identification. The remains of about 630 enemy troops were found while another
200 have yet to be identified to determine which side they were on.
The U.S., which fought under the U.N. command, maintains a force of some 28,500
troops in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea.
samkim@yna.co.kr
(END)
