Trump hopes to see Kim soon after receiving remains of soldiers

Washington : US President Donald Trump on Thursday said that he hopes to see North Korean leader Kim Jong-un soon, and thanked Kim for sending the remains of American soldiers killed during the Korean War (1950-1953).

“Thank you to Chairman Kim Jong-un for keeping your word and starting the process of sending home the remains of our great and beloved missing fallen! I am not at all surprised that you took this kind action,” Trump tweeted Thursday morning.

Trump also revealed that along with the 55 boxes containing the remains that arrived on Wednesday at the Pearl Harbor naval base in Hawaii, Kim also sent him a letter, reports Efe news.

“Also, thank you for your nice letter – I look forward to seeing you soon!” Trump added.

Trump and Kim held a historic summit, the first such meeting between sitting presidents of these two countries, on June 12 in Singapore.

In addition to addressing the denuclearization of the Korean peninsula, the two leaders spoke of resuming searches for the 5,300 missing US soldiers believed to have died north of the 38th parallel that divides North and South Korea.

North Korea delivered the remains of 55 soldiers on July 27, which the US later took to a military base in South Korea to perform preliminary tests before their arrival on Wednesday on American soil in a ceremony with honours officiated by Vice President Mike Pence.

“Incredibly beautiful ceremony as US Korean War remains are returned to American soil,” tweeted Trump, who was not at Pearl Harbor to receive them.

In the hope of restarting the search for the missing soldiers in North Korea, the US has started the difficult task of identifying the remains of the 55 soldiers through DNA tests which could take months or even years.

The Pentagon has a laboratory in Hawaii specialising in the identification of soldiers killed decades ago.

 Published on: Aug 2, 2018 at 14:26 IST

IANS