US ready to search North Korea for war dead if Trump-Kim diplomacy advances

The agency that recovers U.S. war dead is prepared to send teams back into North Korea for the first time in two decades if renewed diplomacy opens the door. U.S. and South Korean service members carry the remains of 13 service members killed in the Korean War during a repatriation ceremony in Seoul on June 5, 2026. (Daniela Lechuga Liggio/U.S. Army) The Pentagon agency responsible for recovering America’s war dead is prepared to send teams back into North Korea for the first time in two decades if renewed diplomacy between President Donald Trump and Kim Jong Un opens the door. “We’ve offered that to the White House; we are ready,” Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency director Kelly McKeague said Monday during a webinar hosted by The National Committee on North Korea.

About 5,300 of the roughly 7,400 Americans still missing from the Korean War are believed to be in North Korea, McKeague said. DPAA wants Pyongyang to turn over remains already in its possession and allow American recovery teams to resume field operations similar to those carried out between 1995 and 2005, he said. The possibility comes as Trump signals interest in renewing face-to-face talks with Kim. The president told reporters Aug. 19 that he expects to meet with the North Korean leader later this year, although no summit has been