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Photos show the emotional repatriation ceremony marking the return of US troops who died in the Korean Warhttps://www.businessinsider.in/miscellaneous/photos-show-the-emotional-repatriation-ceremony-marking-the-return-of-us-troops-who-died-in-the-korean-war/slidelist/65250964.cms2018-08-03T02:55:23+05:30

Photos show the emotional repatriation ceremony marking the return of US troops who died in the Korean War

Aug 3, 2018, 02:55 IST

In a joint statement between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in June, the two leaders pledged to "commit to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified."

In a symbolic move, North Korea returned 55 sets of remains on the same day of the 65th anniversary of the armistice that paused Korean War hostilities.

Over 7,700 US troops are still unaccounted for from the Korea War. Around 5,300 US remains are believed to be in North Korea.

The remains were transferred from the boxes they arrived in to full-sized caskets draped with UN flags.

Over 400 caskets of remains from North Korea were repatriated to the US from the 1990's to 2005.

Previous returned remains indicated that they were already out of the ground for a long time and could have been stored in an abandoned mine.

A single US dog tag was provided by the North Koreans with the remains. It is unclear whether the remains of the service member who the dog tag belonged to was included, however, the service member's family was notified.

Only 181 out of the 450 sets of returned remains in recent years have been identified.

Vice President Mike Pence delivered an emotional speech at the ceremony.

In a late-night tweet on Wednesday, Trump thanked North Korean leader Kim Jong Un for returning the remains, which the US hopes will be the first of many transfers.

But some of the remains returned by North Korea may not even be from humans.

Still, forensic experts who received the latest batch of remains were hopeful.

Boots, canteens, and other military equipment were included with the latest set of remains.

Almost 800 remains are buried at the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific in Honolulu.

Over 33,650 US troops were killed during the Korean War.

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