WASHINGTON (AP) — Pentagon officials are finding it more difficult than anticipated to arrange for the recovery and return of additional U.S. war remains from North Korea.
Last summer the White House publicly raised hopes for a complete accounting of Korean War remains in the North. And in September the Pentagon official who oversees worldwide efforts to recover the remains of U.S. servicemen and -women said he hoped negotiations with North Korea would begin by Oct. 31.
The North in August returned 55 boxes of what it called U.S. war remains, from which two Americans so far have been identified.
Pentagon spokesman Charles Pritchard says the plan is to work out arrangements for joint U.S.-North Korean recovery operations in 2019, but North Korea has not agreed to begin formal negotiations.
