SEOUL, South Korea: The US military said it moved 100 wooden coffins to the inter-Korean border to prepare for North Korea’s returning of the remains of American soldiers who have been missing since the 1950-53 Korean War.
US Forces Korea spokesman Col. Chad Carroll also said Saturday that 158 metal transfer cases were sent to a US air base near Seoul, South Korea’s capital, and would be used to send the remains home.
North Korea agreed to return US war remains during the June 12 summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and President Donald Trump. While the US military preparations suggest that the repatriation of war remains could be imminent, it remains unclear when and how it would occur.
Earlier Saturday, Carroll denied a report by South Korea’s Yonhap news agency that US military vehicles carrying more than 200 caskets were planning to cross into North Korea on Saturday. He said plans for the repatriation were “still preliminary.”
US Forces Korea said in a statement later in the day that 100 wooden “temporary transit cases” built in Seoul were sent to the Joint Security Area at the border as part of preparations to “receive and transport remains in a dignified manner when we get the call to do so.”
From 1996 to 2005, joint US-North Korea military search teams conducted 33 recovery operations that collected 229 sets of American remains.
But efforts to recover and return other remains have stalled for more than a decade because of the North’s nuclear weapons development and US claims that the safety of recovery teams it sent during the administration of former President George W. Bush was not sufficiently guaranteed.
US officials have said earlier that the remains are believed to be some or all of the more than 200 that the North Koreans have had for some time. But the precise number and the identities — including whether they are US or allied service members — won’t be known until the remains are tested.
The transfer of remains is usually done in a somber, formal ceremony, and that is what officials said was being planned.
Richard Downes, executive director of the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs, said last week that he had been told the North may have the remains of more than 200 American service members that were likely recovered from land during farming or construction and could be easily returned. But he said the vast majority have yet to be located and retrieved from various cemeteries and battlefields across the countryside.
More than 36,000 US troops died in the conflict, including those listed as missing in action. Close to 7,700 US troops remain unaccounted for from the Korean War, and about 5,300 of those were lost in North Korea.
The last time North Korea turned over remains was in 2007, when Bill Richardson, a former UN ambassador and New Mexico governor, secured the return of six sets.
According to Chuck Prichard, spokesman for the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, once the remains are turned over, they would be sent to one of two Defense Department facilities — Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii and Offutt Air Force Base in Nebraska — for tests to determine identification.
US moves 100 coffins to North Korean border for war remains
US moves 100 coffins to North Korean border for war remains
- From 1996 to 2005, joint US-North Korea military search teams conducted 33 recovery operations that collected 229 sets of American remains
- The transfer of remains is usually done in a somber, formal ceremony, and that is what officials said was being planned
World not ready for rise in extreme heat, scientists say
- In a new study, they looked at different global warming scenarios to project how often people in the future might experience temperatures considered uncomfortably hot or cold
PARIS: Nearly 3.8 billion people could face extreme heat by 2050, and while tropical countries will bear the brunt, cooler regions will also need to adapt, scientists said Monday.
Demand for cooling will “drastically” increase in large countries like Brazil, Indonesia, and Nigeria, where hundreds of millions of people lack air conditioning or other means to beat the heat.
But even a moderate increase in hotter days could have a “severe impact” in nations not accustomed to such conditions, such as Canada, Russia, and Finland, said scientists from the University of Oxford.
In a new study, they looked at different global warming scenarios to project how often people in the future might experience temperatures considered uncomfortably hot or cold.
They found “that the population experiencing extreme heat conditions is projected to nearly double” by 2050 if global average temperatures rise 2°C above preindustrial times.
But most of the impact would be felt this decade as the world fast approaches the 1.5°C mark, said the study’s lead author Jesus Lizana.
“The key takeaway from this is that the need for adaptation to extreme heat is more urgent than previously known,” said Lizana, an environmental scientist.
“New infrastructure, such as sustainable air conditioning or passive cooling, needs to be built out within the next few years to ensure people can cope with dangerous heat.”
Prolonged exposure to extreme heat can overwhelm the body’s natural cooling systems, causing symptoms ranging from dizziness and headaches to organ failure and death.
It is often called a silent killer because most heat deaths occur gradually as high temperatures and other environmental factors work together to undermine the body’s internal thermostat.
Climate change is making heatwaves longer and stronger, and access to cooling — especially air conditioning — will be vital in the future.
The study, published in the journal Nature Sustainability, projected that 3.79 billion people worldwide could be exposed to extreme heat by mid century.
This would “drastically” increase energy demand for cooling in developing nations where the gravest health consequences would be felt. India, the Philippines, and Bangladesh would be among the countries with the largest populations affected.
The most significant change in “cooling degree days” — temperatures hot enough to require cooling, such as air conditioning or fans — was projected in tropical or equatorial countries, particularly in Africa.
Central African Republic, Nigeria, South Sudan, Laos, and Brazil saw the biggest rise in dangerously hot temperatures.
“Put simply, the most disadvantaged people are the ones who will bear the brunt of this trend, our study shows for ever hotter days,” said urban climate scientist and research co-author Radhika Khosla.
But wealthier countries in traditionally cooler climates also “face a major problem — even if many do not realize it yet,” she added.
Countries like Canada, Russia, and Finland may experience steep drops in “heating degree days” — temperatures low enough to require indoor heating — under a 2°C scenario.
But even a moderate rise in hotter temperatures would be felt more acutely in countries not designed to withstand heat, the authors said.
In these countries, homes and buildings are usually built to maximize sunlight and minimize ventilation, and public transport runs without air conditioning.
Some cold-climate nations may see a drop in heating bills, Lizana said, but over time these savings would likely be replaced by cooling costs, including in Europe, where air conditioning is still rare.
“Wealthier countries cannot sit back and assume they will be OK — in many cases, they are dangerously underprepared for the heat that is coming over the next few years,” he said.
