The 55 sets of human remains handed over by North Korea to the United States may include troops from other nations that fought in the Korean War – including Britons – after it was confirmed that only one identification tag was included with the bodies.
T he 55 sets of human remains handed over by North Korea to the United States may include troops from other nations that fought in the Korean War – including Britons – after it was confirmed that only one identification tag was included with the bodies.
A US defence official told the Associated Press that it will probably take months, if not years, to identify with any certainty the identities of the troops. He added that US specialists who have already carried out a preliminary examination of the remains have not been able to confirm that they are those of US military personnel.
There are no further details about the military dog tag that was handed over when a US military transport aircraft flew to Kalma Airport, on the outskirts of the North Korean city of Wonsan, on Friday. The aircraft returned to the US Air Force base at Osan later in the day and the remains were handed over to representatives of the Defence POW/MIA Accounting Agency.
The United Nations Command was due to hold a ceremony at the air base later on Wednesday to mark the formal repatriation of the remains.
