North Korean officials were a no-show at a scheduled Thursday meeting with US officials to discuss the return of remains of American soldiers who were killed during the 1950 to 53 Korean War.
Though the meeting has been rescheduled for July 15, the new date wasn't revealed until after officials from the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency were left waiting at the militarized border between North and South Korea, Bloomberg reported.
A source with knowledge of the meeting told the Yonhap News Agency that after a call was made to North Korea, US officials were informed that the talks needed to be upgraded.
“North Korea apparently wants a US general to appear at the table to quickly finalize the repatriation issue,” the source told the outlet. “It is likely that military generals from the US and North Korea will take part in the meeting.”
The matter of returning the remains of US troops from North Korea has long been an issue between the two countries, since the Korean War was halted by an armistice in 1953. According to the US Department of Defense, nearly 8,000 American troops that took part in the war are still unaccounted for.
Talk of restarting the return of remains was brought to the forefront after it became one of the four points made in the joint declaration between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un at their historic June 12 summit in Singapore.
Other points included the denuclearization of North Korea,…
