North Korea is reportedly expected to begin turning over the remains of U.S. soldiers beginning on Friday.
South Korea’s Yonhap News agency, citing a diplomatic source, reported that North Korean officials have accepted two truckloads of wooden caskets to be used for returning the remains of American service members killed in the Korean War.
The caskets had previously been stored near the North Korea-South Korea border, Yonhap reported.
{mosads}
Friday coincides with the 65th anniversary of the signing of an armistice that ended the Korean War.
CNN reported Wednesday that U.S. is expected to pick up the remains at an airport in North Korea before transporting them to Osan Air Base near Seoul, South Korea. A ceremony will take place there before the remains are moved to Hawaii.
However, a Department of Defense official told CNN that the U.S. does not yet have confirmation Pyongyang will officially release the remains this week.
President Trump has said he and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un reached an agreement on the repatriation of remains during their summit last month in Singapore. However, Trump has indicated on multiple occasions that the process had already begun, despite officials from North Korea and his own administration saying otherwise.
In late June, Trump said the remains of 200 U.S. or allied service members had been returned.
At a speech in Kansas City, Mo., on Tuesday, he walked back his comments to suggest the process was just starting.
“I hope that, very soon, these fallen warriors will begin coming home to lay at rest in American soil,” Trump said. “That’s starting the process.”
The process stalled briefly earlier this month when North Korean officials skipped a meeting intended to discuss the repatriation of U.S. remains. The meeting was rescheduled for a few days later.