The remains of what are believed to be 12 South Korean soldiers who died in the 1950-53 war were turned over in an internationally flavored ceremony to the U.S. ally Tuesday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam for repatriation in their home country.
It was the reverse of ceremonies usually seen at Hickam in which fallen American service members from past wars are returned to U.S. soil for identification at the Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command lab.
The repatriation was so unique that South Korean President Lee Myung-bak was expected to meet the Republic of Korea Air Force C-130 carrying the remains upon its return to his nation.
South Korea’s Memorial Day remembering those killed in service to the nation is observed on June 6.
"This is the first repatriation of Korean War remains which we believe are Koreans to go from Hawaii back to Korea," said Maj. Gen. Stephen Tom, the commander of JPAC.
Custody of the remains passed from JPAC to United Nations Command to South Korean military control, with both U.S. and South Korean military members carrying the blue-and-white U.N.-flag-covered transfer cases during the turn-over in a cavernous hangar at Hickam.
United Nations Command oversees a multinational force that still supports South Korea.
"The Koreans and the Americans share some very similar values, and one of them is to honor our past war heroes and to recover them, identify them and return them to their families," Tom said.
Young-kil Suh, consul general for the Republic of Korea in Honolulu and a retired vice admiral, said "this is a very significant and meaningful occasion" in the "strong alliance" between the U.S. and South Korea.
Approximately 26 South Koreans, including 14 air crew members, as well as a two-star general representing United Nations Command, JPAC and U.S. Pacific Command officials, and about a half-dozen Korean War veterans from Hawaii attended the repatriation.
The return occurred after JPAC secured the remains from recovery operations in North Korea between 2000 and 2004, JPAC said. It was later determined the individuals were not Americans.
"We did our usual multiple lines of evidence that indicated that these weren’t U.S. service members, to include mitochondrial DNA, odontological, anthropological and historic analysis," said JPAC spokesperson Capt. Jamie Dobson.
JPAC said it was "relatively confident" the soldiers are South Korean, based on the context in which they were found: alongside fallen U.S. service members.
The remains were recovered during multiple operations in Kujang and Jangjin provinces in North Korea. JPAC conducted 19 recovery operations in North Korea during that time period, it said.
Kalihi boy and 1949 Farrington High graduate Francis Yasutake, 81, who fought with the 7th Infantry Division just above the 38th Parallel in what is now North Korea, is among a group of Korean War vets who regularly attend repatriation ceremonies at Hickam.
Yasutake and other veterans there for Tuesday’s turnover have continuing respect for the soldiers who fought with them and the nation’s efforts to honor its own veterans and the American sacrifice.
"All of us, we’re Korean War veterans, and we are just like brothers (with them)," Yasutake said. "We had people from the South Korean army with us."
Thomas Tanaka, another Korean War veteran, said, "No country has honored the Korean War veterans like they (South Korea) do."
The United States, through JPAC, and South Korea, through its Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification, have the most comprehensive fallen service member recovery programs in the world, JPAC said.
