US Denies Sending Coffins to North Korea

But US has sent coffins to Inter-Korean border for war remains
By Newser Editors and Wire Services
Posted Jun 23, 2018 12:10 PM CDT
US Moves 100 Coffins to Inter-Korean Border
In this May 14, 1999, file photo, UN honor guards carry a coffin containing the remains of the American soldiers after it was returned from North Korea at the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea.   (AP Photo/Ahn Young-joon, File)

The US military says it moved 100 wooden coffins to the inter-Korean border on Saturday to prepare for North Korea's returning of the remains of American soldiers who have been missing since the 1950-53 Korean War, the AP reports. US Forces Korea spokesman Col. Chad Carroll also says 158 metal transfer cases were sent to a US air base near Seoul, South Korea's capital, and would be used to send the remains home. North Korea agreed to return US war remains during the June 12 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump.

While the US military preparations suggest that the repatriation of war remains could be imminent, it remains unclear when and how it would occur. Earlier Saturday, Carroll denied a report by South Korea's Yonhap news agency that US military vehicles carrying more than 200 caskets were planning to cross into North Korea on Saturday. He said plans for the repatriation were "still preliminary." US Forces Korea said in a statement later in the day that 100 wooden "temporary transit cases" built in Seoul were sent to the Joint Security Area at the border as part of preparations to "receive and transport remains in a dignified manner when we get the call to do so."

(More North Korea stories.)

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