More than six decades after the end of the Korean War, The Pentagon began moving wooden coffins to the border with North Korea to prepare for the return of American war dead.
SEOUL, South Korea — More than six decades after the end of the Korean War, the American military is preparing for the remains of some of its soldiers killed in the conflict to finally return home.
On Saturday, the United States military in South Korea said it had moved 100 wooden coffins and American flags to the border with North Korea to prepare for the repatriation.
North Korea is expected to hand over the remains — believed to belong to some 200 to 250 American servicemen — following President Trump’s historic summit with North Korean leader, Kim Jong-un, in Singapore on June 12.
During that meeting, Mr. Kim committed to returning the remains of American troops recovered from major Korean War battle sites in his country and said he would make way for the “immediate repatriation of those already identified.”
Panmunjom, the so-called “truce village” that straddles the South-North Korean border, is where the remains are expected to be handed over, said Lt. Col. Jennifer Lovett, a United States military spokeswoman in South Korea. More coffins will be sent to the village in the coming days.
Metal caskets were also being readied at the American air base in Osan, South Korea, to prepare for the cross-Pacific journey home. On Saturday, 158 metal coffins were sent to the air base, Ms. Lovett said.
“We are getting ready,” she said, adding that it remained unclear when North Korea would deliver the remains to Panmunjom.
