US, N Korea to talk on missing soldiers

Times of India

AP[ THURSDAY, NOVEMBER 13, 2003 12:20:57 PM ]

BANGKOK : US and North Korean negotiators will meet in Bangkok this week to discuss recovering the remains of US soldiers missing from the Korean War, a US Embassy spokesman said Thursday. Details of the meeting were not immediately available, the spokesman said on condition of anonymity.

However, South Korea 's Yonhap news agency said the talks are scheduled for Friday and Saturday. The two sides are expected to discuss excavation sites and payment to North Korea .

The United States is hoping to conduct five recovery projects next year and is planning to finalise the arrangements at the talks, the agency said, quoting the US funded radio network Radio Free Asia.

More than 8,000 American military personnel are missing from the 1950-53 war.

Since 1996, American teams have recovered more than 170 sets of remains believed to be those of American soldiers, some of which have been identified and returned to their families.

The Korean War ended without a peace treaty, and the border between North and South Korea remains sealed and heavily fortified

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