S. Korean defense head inspects excavation of crashed U.S. fighter jet from Korean War

SEOUL, June 11 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's defense chief on Thursday visited a site
where joint South Korea-U.S. efforts are under way to exhume the remains of a
U.S. pilot who died in a plane crash during the Korean War, his ministry said.
The country will continue its efforts to locate those that remain unaccounted
for from the 1950-53 conflict, "until the remains of every last soldier are
found," Lee was quoted as saying during his trip.
The visit by Lee came just days before the one-month-long joint project by South
Korea and the United States was to end June 15.
Since mid-May, military officials and archaeologists from South Korea and the
U.S. have been investigating several sites to mainly trace the remains of U.S.
soldiers killed in the Korean War.
Minister Lee visited Yeoncheon, 62 km north of Seoul, where a U.S. F-80 fighter
jet is believed to have been shot down by flak fired by enemy forces in 1951.
The ministry said clear findings have yet to turn up, but added in a statement
that Lee's visit was aimed at "figuring out how the project is carried out and
encouraging the efforts of the workers."
Since 2000, South Korea has discovered the remains of 2,800 soldiers believed to
have died in the Korean War. Some 8,100 American soldiers still remain
unaccounted for.
Many of them are believed to be buried on the North Korean side of the divided
peninsula, which remains technically at war as the three-year conflict ended in a
truce.
The U.S., which fought on the South Korean side, has sent a 12-member team from
the Hawaii-based U.S. Joint Prisoners of War, Missing in Action Accounting
Command to conduct the excavation.
The U.S. maintains a force of 28,500 troops in South Korea as a deterrent against
North Korea.
ejkim@yna.co.kr
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