Remains believed to belong to dozens of US soldiers who died in the Cold War era Korean War were welcomed Wednesday by US Vice President Mike Pence at a solemn ceremony in Honolulu, Hawaii.
“Some have called the Korean War the ‘Forgotten War.’ But today we prove these heroes were never forgotten. Today our boys are coming home,” he said in a televised address.
Wooden boxes with 55 sets of remains were flown to a US air base in South Korea from the North last Friday as part of June’s agreement between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. They will be formally identified in Hawaii.
US President Donald Trump thanked earlier Kim Jong-un for fulfilling his promise and returning the remains of US service members who were killed in the Cold War era.
The White House praised the handover as a significant first step to begin the repatriation of remains from North Korea. An estimated 5,300 US troops fell on its territory during the 1950-1953 conflict.
The transfer marked the 65th anniversary since the signing of the 1953 armistice that ended fighting on the Korean peninsula.
