President Trump thanked North Korea’s Kim Jong Un for returning the bodies of fallen American soldiers at a press conference on Friday.
“At this moment a plane is carrying the remains of some great fallen heroes from America back from the Korean War,” the president said.
The White House confirmed on Thursday that a plane left for North Korea to retrieve the remains of U.S. troops killed during the Korean War.
Mr. Trump said that Vice President Mike Pence will greet the families when the remains return to the U.S.
The remains will first arrive in South Korea, where a formal repatriation ceremony will be held on August 1.
They will then be taken to Hawaii for identification.
“I want to thank Chairman Kim in front of the media for fulfilling a promise that he made to me,” Mr. Trump said, “And I’m sure he will continue to fulfill that promise as they continue to search and search and search.”
The commitment to return troops was first announced at Mr. Trump’s and Mr. Kim’s Singapore summit on June 12.
* Ben Wolfgang contributed to this report
• Gabriella Muñoz can be reached at gmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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