North Korea on Thursday said it would start returning the remains of some of the US soldiers killed in the Korean War, South Korea's Yonhap news agency reported.

North Korea had accepted 100 wooden caskets, which were carried in two trucks, and the first transfer was due to be made on Friday to mark the 65th anniversary of the signing of the 1953 armistice that ended the war, Yonhap reported, citing diplomatic sources.

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The reparations will see the remains airlifted from North Korea's Kalma Airport on the eastern coast to Osan Air Base, south of Seoul, before they are transferred to a forensic lab in Hawaii, it said.

A US military spokesman declined to comment on Yonhap's report, according to French news agency AFP.

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US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo had said last week that the repatriations would begin soon, but did not confirm media reports that the first transfers of some 50-55 sets of remains would take place on July 27.

Faces of the Korean War Abandoned in the rubble The armistice agreement on July 27, 1953 marked the end of almost three years of war. In September 1950, all alone, this girl cries desperately in the ruins of Incheon. The child's identity is unknown. Shortly before this picture was taken, American troops had retaken the South Korean city from North Korean troops. At this stage of the conflict it all pointed to a South Korean victory.

Faces of the Korean War Caught between the lines This family's hut is located in the border area between the warring North and South. By the summer of 1951, the conflict had become static, taking place mainly along the 38th parallel.

Faces of the Korean War A constant flow of refugees These North Korean refugees try to escape the fierce battles that have been raging on since 1951. On their way south they pass by frozen rice fields.

Faces of the Korean War Heading south A Korean civilian carries his father on his back as they cross the Han River in 1951. Despite the counter offensive launched by UN forces to stop the Chinese and North Korean troops, Korean civilians continued to flee the northern Korean region.

Faces of the Korean War Uprooted A total of 4.5 million North Koreans left their homes because of the war and headed south or abroad. Its unclear how many people lost their lives during the three-year conflict. By the time the armistice agreement was signed in 1953, North Korea had lost half of its pre-war population.

Faces of the Korean War Left in ruins Carrying her wounded grandchild on her back, this elderly woman wanders among the debris of their wrecked home in the aftermath of an air raid by US planes over Pyongyang, the Communist capital of North Korea, in the fall of 1950.

Faces of the Korean War Foreign rescuers A fateful encounter: In the cold of winter, US lieutenant William Doernbach comes across this Korean orphan girl in a deserted village and leaves her in the care of an orphanage. She escapes the orphanage and finds her rescuer. They reunite in May 1951. Author: Esther Felden / gd



Remains to undergo 'in-depth assessment'

US broadcaster CNN earlier this week cited a US official as saying that Washington expected to receive an initial 55 sets of remains and planned to send officials to North Korea to open and photograph each casket as part of a "cursory review" of what the North Koreans handed over.

The remains, along with any military uniforms, identification tags or documentation, would then undergo an in-depth assessment by forensic specialists in the South Korean city of Osan, which could take up to five days.

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A formal military ceremony at the airfield would then be conducted before the remains are flown to a US military laboratory in Hawaii for DNA analysis, CNN reported.

The repatriations of the remains of US soldiers was one of the agreements made at a landmark summit between US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

law/rc (AFP, Reuters)