Following the Defense Writers Group conversation September 20, 2018, Rebecca Kheel of The Hill wrote:
"The Pentagon has offered to meet with the North Koreans in the last week of October in a third-party country to negotiate joint excavation operations to recover more Korean War remains, the head of the agency in charge of the mission said Thursday.
The agency would hope to start the operations in spring 2019, Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) director Kelly McKeague added.
“We fully expect to be able to reach a suitable arrangement that is compatible with both nations and our objectives,” he told the Defense Writer’s Group.
Recovering Korean War remains was one the commitments President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un agreed to at their Singapore summit in June.
About 7,000 U.S. service members from the Korean War remain unaccounted for, with DPAA estimating that about 5,300 were lost in North Korea.
In July, North Korea turned over 55 cases of remains believed to be of U.S. troops.
DPAA has identified two people in that set of remains so far. The Army notified one family Tuesday and the other family Wednesday, McKeague said Thursday.
McKeague would not reveal the identity of the soldiers Thursday morning, saying the White House has requested to do that. He said he expects the announcement to come either later Thursday at Vice President Pence’s event at the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation or Friday as part of Trump’s POW/MIA Recognition Day proclamation."
The Hill:US proposes October talks on recovering war remains from North Korea
The Wall Street Journal:Trump Releases Names of Two Service Members Returned From North Korea
ABC News: Remains of two US soldiers identified from boxes turned over by North Korea
https://abcnews.go.com/US/remains-us-soldiers-identified-boxes-turned-north-korea/story?id=57966110
Washington Examiner:Pentagon says it is negotiating a summit with North Korea on troop remains
Washington Post: US Possible October talks with North Korea on war remains
Others:
The Hill: Overnight Defense: Trump identifies first soldier remains from North Korea | New cyber strategy lets US go on offense | Army chief downplays talk of 'Fort Trump'
Stars and Stripes:US identifies first two US soldiers from Korean War remains
https://www.stripes.com/news/us-identifies-first-two-us-soldiers-from-korean-war-remains-1.548490
ABC News: US Possible October talks with North Korea on war remains
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/us-seeking-north-korean-talks-recovering-us-war-57959584
US identifies remains of 2 Korean War soldiers
https://abcnews.go.com/Politics/wireStory/latest-us-identifies-remains-korean-war-soldiers-57967762
Yahoo News: Trump releases first two names of U.S. war dead handed over by North Korea
https://www.yahoo.com/news/trump-releases-first-two-names-u-war-dead-182749868.html
