The remains of South Korean soldiers killed in North Korea during the Korean War returned home on Friday via the U.S., marking the first such repatriation of South Korean war dead since the 1953 armistice.

Twelve sets of remains, two of which have been positively identified, were among 226 sets recovered in the northern part of North Korea by a U.S. excavation team between 2000 and 2004, before Washington halted the joint recovery mission with Pyongyang due to concerns over the safety and security of its workers.

After conducting DNA tests, the U.S. Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command (JPAC) in Hawaii confirmed last August that some of the remains were those of Asian soldiers.

Since then, Seoul and Washington have conducted joint analyses to identify the remains and 12 sets were confirmed to be from South Korean soldiers, officials at Seoul’s defense ministry said.

The 12 sets of remains were flown Friday to a military airport in Seongnam, south of Seoul, where they were met with an honor guard ceremony attended by President Lee Myung-bak, Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Army Gen. James Thurman, the commander of U.S. Forces Korea.  [Yonhap]

You can read more at the link but the return of these remains is very important to family members even after all of these years.  I once participated in a funeral detail for the remains of a World War II US servicemember that was recovered and the soldiers 90+ year old sister cried during the funeral like it had just happened.  The rest of the family was extremely thankful to the Army for finding the remains and conducting the funeral service.  I am sure the Korean families for these 12 ROK Army soldiers likely feel the same way.

A North Korean soldier taken prisoner in July 1950.

Via the Marmot’s Hole comes news that the Seoul Museum of History has a display of historic Korean War photographs from the Associated Press on display.  You can see a sample of the photos at this Joong Ang Ilbo link.

Two unidentified soldiers enjoy some recreation time at a sandbagged Navy Army Air Force Institute (NAAFI)

Via the Australian War Memorial.

HO3-S, Kimpo Airfield, Korea (1950-51)

Via San Diego Air & Space Museum archive.

TRADE, socio-economic, cultural and security relations between the Philippines and South Korea continue to flourish and deepen.
The latest sign of this is the inauguration of the PEFTOK-Korean War Memorial Hall (PKWMH) at the Libingan ng mga Bayani in Taguig City by President Benigno Aquino 3rd.

President Aquino by this act on Thursday honored more than seven thousand officers and men of the Philippine Expeditionary Force to Korea (PEFTOK) who fought in the Korean War. These men (and women) did so to defend South Korea from communist North Korea and its allies then the Communist Soviet Empire and still communist China.

The PEFTOK soldiers also helped rebuild the Republic of Korea (which is the formal name for South Korea) from the ravages WWII.

The President was assisted at the inauguration, unveiling the the PKWMH dedication marker, by former President Fidel V. Ramos who is a Korean War veteran himself, and Korean Ambassador to the Philippines Hye Min Lee, Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin, Korean Minister Park Sung Choon of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, and United Korean Community Association in the Philippines President Lee Won Joo.

The PKWMH serves symbolizes the deep and special friendship between the Philippines and Korea for more than sixty years.  [Manila Times]

For those that haven’t done so yet I highly recommend reading my prior posting about the PEFTOK.

Marines of the First Marine Division pay their respects to fallen buddies during memorial services at the division's cemetery at Hamhung, Korea, following the break-out from Chosin Reservoir, December 13, 1950. Cpl. Uthe. (Marine Corps)

The Pentagon has suspended efforts to recover the remains of U.S. troops in North Korea, officials said Wednesday, the latest indication that recently negotiated agreements between the two countries are at risk of falling apart.

Less than a week ago, North Korea said it intends to use a rocket to blast a satellite into space — a move that is being interpreted as a thinly veiled missile test, which would violate U.N. resolutions.

“Look, fundamentally, this is about them meeting international obligations,” Navy Capt. John Kirby, a spokesman for the Pentagon, said Wednesday. “This launch they said they’re going to conduct violates those obligations. And we have to hold them [to] account for that.”  [Washington Post]

What I find interesting about this is that when the Pentagon agreed to the deal with North Korea last October it was stated that this deal was not linked to other issues:

The Pentagon statement said the talks will address a “stand-alone humanitarian matter” and are not linked to other issues, which include most prominently the North Korean nuclear program and U.S.-supported international sanctions aimed at stopping North Korean weapon proliferation.  [Associated Press]

Why make such a deal when you know the North Koreans are going to eventually cause some kind of provocation?  Claiming that this deal is a stand alone humanitarian matter and then back out of it when the North Koreans act up puts into question why anyone would have made such a deal in the first place?

This is an issue that is quite difficult to reconcile because the recovery of Korean War remains has been shut down since 2005 because the program had become a money maker for North Korea.  At the same time though it is nice to be able to provide the families of missing in action the return of their loved ones for burial.  The way I have always felt on this issue is that this is an area of cooperation with North Korea I don’t mind as long as they don’t try and charge some extravagant price for the return of Korean War dead.  You can read more about my views on this here.

South Korea says it will hand over to the United States what are believed to be the remains of an American soldier killed in the early days of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The Defense Ministry says the remains were excavated last year on a hill in the southern county of Yeongi, where U.S. troops fought invading North Korean troops in July 1950.

The ministry said Thursday an initial investigation together with U.S. officials found that the remains are likely to be those of a U.S. soldier.

It said the remains will be sent to a U.S. office in Hawaii to determine their identify.

The ministry says 36,940 U.S. soldiers died and about 3,740 are missing from the Korean War.

The U.S. fought on the South Korean side during the war.  [Associated Press]

Hopefully they can get the soldier quickly identified so what family he has remaining can be contacted and be given the opportunity to properly bury him.  On a side note I found it interesting that the AP had to remind readers on which side the US fought during the Korean War.  Are people really getting that stupid that they don’t know which side the US fought during the Korean War?

Korea, May, 1953: War-weary soldiers crouch in a ditch while enemy mortar shells drop nearby. These same infantrymen helped fight off a division of Chinese communists at Outpost Elko a few hours earlier. A company commander said of the fighting at Elko and Outpost Carson, "when I think back over it, the whole thing seems like a bad dream."

Via the Stars & Stripes.

This is a picture of an army encampment from India near Daegu during the Korean War.  The picture is from a collection of photographs donated by a Indian Korean War veteran to the Korean embassy in New Dehli.  During the war 16 nations deployed combat troops under the United Nations banner while another 5 sent medical units.  India was one of the nations that sent a medical unit to Korea.  India deployed the 60th Parachute Field Ambulance platoon that consisted of 627 medical personnel under the command of Lieutenant Colonel A.G. Rangaraj.

HT: Marmot’s Hole

You can read more about PFC Carrasco at this link.