Cambodia has agreed to resume a search effort with the United States for the remains of Americans killed in the Vietnam War, according to the Foreign Ministry.

Key points: The search program had run for 30 years before being suspended

The search program had run for 30 years before being suspended Rising tensions between the two nations over visas caused the program's suspension

Rising tensions between the two nations over visas caused the program's suspension The Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, remains an emotive issue in Cambodia

Cambodian Prime Minister Hun Sen suspended the POW/MIA program when Washington stopped issuing some visas after Cambodia refused to accept citizens deported from the United States following their convictions for crimes there.

Foreign Affairs Ministry spokesman Ket Sophann said Hun Sen had offered to resume cooperation in a letter on Friday to US Senator Doug Ericksen and Representative Vincent Buys.

"The letter talks to this itself, especially the words: it is the reflection of our deep empathy with the families," Ket Sophann told Reuters.

Hun Sen said the search program, which had run for 30 years until being suspended last year, would resume even though the visa curbs had "unjustly sanctioned" Cambodia.

"As we have discussed before, and at your personal request, as well as that made by other US organisations, my government, in the same compassionate spirit, agreed to resume this important POW/MIA field mission, regardless [of] the United States visa restriction in place," Hun Sen wrote.

The US Embassy in the Cambodian capital of Phnom Penh declined to comment.

Hun Sen has said that the remains of half of the 80 American soldiers who went missing in Cambodia during the war in neighbouring Vietnam have been found.

The Vietnam War, which ended in 1975, remains an emotive issue in Cambodia.

Hun Sen's ruling party won all 125 parliamentary seats in a July election the United Nations and Western countries described as flawed, after the main opposition Cambodia National Rescue Party was dissolved over accusations of plotting to topple the government.

Hun Sen has accused the United States of plotting treason with opposition leader Kem Sokha, an accusation that was rejected by Washington.

Reuters