U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Friday, after the first remains of U.S. soldiers were returned from North Korea, that U.S. forces could return to the country to locate more, Defense News reports.
North Korea returned what are thought to be the remains of 55 deceased American servicemen to the U.S. on Friday, the first that were promised after President Donald Trump’s summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
“It was a coordination effort over the last month to determine where they would deliver the remains to, where our plane would fly in, where they would be taken to for the initial review," Mattis said on Friday. He added that it “is certainly under consideration” that U.S. military teams could travel to North Korea to assist in the location of American remains for the first time since 2005.
“So all of that went well and I think when you have that sort of communication going on it sets a positive environment, a positive tone, for other things, more important things in terms of international diplomacy, but this humanitarian act is obviously a step in the right direction.”
Mattis did not discuss any other aspects of the agreement reached by the U.S. and North Korea, including whether the country is dismantling its nuclear test sites.
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