Likely remains of Korean War soldiers found

The Korean military said yesterday it has excavated the remains of scores of soldiers who likely fell in South Korea’s southeastern coastal region during the Korean War nearly six decades ago.

“They are believed to be either North or South Korean troops,” an official in the Joint Chiefs of Staff said, adding that the remains of four South Korean marines were among the 79 discovered on a mountain in Pohang, a port city about 370 kilometers (230 miles) southeast of Seoul.

Millions of soldiers and civilians on both sides died during the 1950?53 war. Since 2000, South Korea has discovered the remains of 2,800 soldiers believed to have died in the war. About 8,100 American soldiers remain unaccounted for.

In January, South Korea opened a lab in Seoul to lead the excavation and identify those discovered. Fewer than 100 South Korean soldiers have been identified so far. The latest discovery came after a retired Marine tipped off the military to where he buried his fallen comrades in 1950, the JCS official said. Marines conducted an excavation lasting nearly two months in the area. In addition to the remains, they found roughly 800 personal items believed to have belonged to fallen soldiers, the official said. Yonhap