US, N.Korea agree on war remains searches

The United States said it reached a deal with North Korea to resume searches for remains of Americans killed in the Korean War, after a six-year break in one of the enemy nations' only means of contact. The accord suggested a slight easing of tensions as North Korea and the United States prepared to hold a second round of rare direct talks in Geneva starting on Monday on how to revive six-nation nuclear disarmament talks. After three days of meetings in Bangkok, the Pentagon said that officials from the United States and North Korea "reached an arrangement to resume recovering the remains of American servicemen missing from the Korean War." US teams are due to start recovery efforts next year in an area around 60 miles (100 kilometers) north of Pyongyang and near the Chosin-Jangjin reservoir where more than 2,000 soldiers and Marines are believed to have gone missing during the 1950-53 war, the Pentagon said. The Defense Department insisted that accounting for missing soldiers is "a stand-alone humanitarian matter, not tied to any other issue between the two countries." The searches were suspended under defense secretary Donald Rumsfeld in 2005 amid a crisis over North Korea's nuclear program, with US officials citing concerns for the safety of Americans involved in the recovery operations. The Pentagon said it had concluded arrangements with North Korea that will "ensure the effectiveness and safety" of teams heading into the isolated and impoverished nation. Pentagon officials said that the United States would not pay for the remains but acknowledged that the teams will inevitably spend money for necessities such as food, fuel and security. Some 7,988 Americans are missing from the Korean War, with around 5,500 of them believed to be in North Korea, according to the Defense Department. Joint search teams recovered the probable remains of 229 servicemen in the North from the start of operations in 1996 until they were suspended nine years later. The Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty, and the North has had tense relations with the United States ever since. President Barack Obama's administration has stood firm that North Korea must clearly recommit to a 2005 agreement in which it agreed to end its nuclear program and ease tensions with South Korea. After ruling out dialogue for months, US officials met with North Korean envoys in July in New York. The administration agreed to the second round in Geneva but said it was premature to return to full-fledged six-nation talks. "They seem to be open to continuing the discussions, so we are pursuing those," Secretary of State Hillary Clinton said in an interview Thursday in Kabul with Fox News. "But I think that it's always important for us to hold the North Koreans accountable. There are certain steps we expect them to take, but if they are willing to be open to conversation with us and with the South Koreans, that we respond." US officials privately have voiced doubts about whether the talks in Geneva will yield much progress but have hoped that the dialogue will lower the chances for provocation by Pyongyang. Last year, North Korea shelled a South Korean border island, killing four, and was accused of sinking a warship, leaving 46 sailors dead. US advocates for engagement with North Korea have long sought a resumption of remains recovery operations, seeing them as one of the few ways to foster better understanding between the two countries. Searches "will open a direct channel of communication with the Korean People's Army, and will return US soldiers to the battlegrounds of North Korea on a solemn mission to ensure that no American is left behind," Senator John Kerry wrote in June in the Los Angeles Times.