Pence attends ceremony for fallen United States soldiers
- by Ken Ortega
- in Worldwide
- — Aug 3, 2018
US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in Singapore on June 12 and signed an agreement in which North Korea committed to "complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula" without specifying a timeline.
A USA airman stands guard next to caskets containing remains of US soldiers killed in the Korean War and collected in North Korea before a repatriation ceremony at Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, South Korea, Wednesday, Aug. 1, 2018. However, CNN also reported last week that, according to an official with close knowledge of North Korea's position on the matter, continued negotiations between the United States and North Korea hinge on Washington's willingness to make a "bold move" and agree to a peace treaty with Pyongyang.
"He always told us that the real heroes of the Korean War were the ones who didn't get to come home", Pence said.
After a solemn ceremony at the US military's Osan Air Base in South Korea, 55 boxes of remains draped in the United Nations flag were taken to a pair of USA military planes, which flew them to a military laboratory in Hawaii for analysis and identification.
"Some 5,300 of 7,699 American unaccounted-for war dead are believed to be in North Korea, and 111 of our 126 Cold War missing are in the vicinity of the Korean peninsula", VFW National Commander Vincent Lawrence said in a statement. About 500 people, including U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo attended the ceremony. Downes went to North Korea in 2016 to press for the return of his father's and many other American's remains missing in action in North Korea.
The remains are believed to belong to servicemen from the US and other United Nations member countries who fought alongside the USA during the Korean War.
Political analyst and former Clinton aide Doug Schoen urged the United States to put pressure on Kim Jon-un's allies in Russian Federation and China to cut energy supplies to the rogue nation and help stop the creation of new missiles. The war killed millions, including 36,000 American soldiers.
The Kaakimaka family provided DNA samples to the US military's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency over a decade ago, hoping officials would be able to make a match.
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But John Byrd, director of scientific analysis at the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA), said preliminary findings suggested that "they are likely to be American remains". The United Nations Command repatriated 55 cases of soldier remains returned by North Korea last Thursday.
There is no longer a Nuclear Threat from North Korea, ' Trump said in a Twitter post after his historic summit with Kim in Singapore last month.
"So when. only one dog tag was provided, it's probably not to tease the USA but rather that it was sent because it could offer clues to the remains".
DPAA officials have cautioned that identifications could be made quickly in some cases, but the process could take years. But examination showed that the remains were from more than 208 individuals. "We will see to it that these are the heroes who will lead the way to many homecomings in the future".
It is possible, the official said, that any new missiles the North is building may be for further testing of such vehicles and of more accurate guidance systems.
While President Donald Trump proclaimed on Twitter in recent weeks that North Korea is "no longer a Nuclear Threat", the regime continues to construct new missiles, according to USA intelligence officials who spoke with the Washington Post. Between 1996 and 2005, more than 220 sets of remains were brought back by joint North Korean-American recovery teams.
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