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<DIV>Dear Mr. Kwon:</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The U.S. Army has compiled a comprehensive inventory of burial sites in
North Korea where soldiers who fought under the United Nations flag were buried
during the Korean War, 1950-53. These materials are located at the
Department of Defense DPMO (Defense Prisoner of War and Missing in Action
Office) in Alexandria, VA. Similar materials are kept at the Central
Identification Laboratory in Honolulu, Hawaii (CILHI). I do not have the
contact information for DPMO, but I am certain you can locate it on the
internet, Defense Department web site.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>Between 1995 and 1997, I was the U.S. State Department representative to
the Joint U.S. Army-(North) Korean People's Army (KPA) Joint Recovering
Operation. The effort continued until May 2005 when Secretary of Defense
Rumfeld ordered its discontinuation. In May 1996, the US Defense
Department and KPA signed an agreement to jointly recover the remains of US
military personnel buried in North Korea. In June 1996, we concluded a
detailed plan of implementation and in July 1996, the first group of US Army
personnel arrived in Pyongyang (I was attached to them as liaison to the DPRK
government) to commence the first 30 day operation to locate US soldiers
remains near Unsan, DPRK. Subsequent missions went to the so-called
"Gauntlet" south of Kyechon, DPRK, then to the northeast corner of the DPRK near
the Chosen Reservoir. Reportedly, there are other cemeteries located
on the Chinese side of the China-DPRK border where prisoners of war from
the UN forces were buried. DPMO has maps of these sites.</DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>The joint recovery effort was one of the most successful and enduring
US-DPRK efforts. It was even more successful that the KEDO nuclear reactor
project. The recovery effort continued for 9 years, except for a
brief disruption in the fall-winter of 1996-97. Unfortunately, Mr.
Rumsfeld failed to recognize the benefits of having officials and soldiers from
mutually adversarial nations working together to recover the remains of war
dead. </DIV>
<DIV> </DIV>
<DIV>C. Kenneth Quinones</DIV>
<DIV>Professor of Korean Studies</DIV>
<DIV>Akita International University</DIV></BODY></HTML>