Generals from the United States and North Korea have met to discuss the repatriation of the remains of U.S. soldiers who fought in the Korean War.
Michael Minihan, an Air Force major general with U.S. Forces Korea and the chief of staff for the United Nations Command, met with a North Korean general Sunday at the border village of Panmunjom in the Demilitarized Zone, or (DMZ), according to Korean sources.
It has been nine years since generals from the two sides last met.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said the meeting was "productive and cooperative and resulted in firm commitments."
Pompeo said the two sides had agreed to restart a search for the "estimated 5,300 Americans who never returned home." The generals plan to meet again Monday.
Trump weighs in
U.S. President Donald Trump, meanwhile, took the opportunity to bash his old nemesis, the media.
"There hasn’t been a missile or rocket fired in 9 months in North Korea, there have been no nuclear tests and we got back our hostages. Who knows how it will all turn out in the end, but why isn’t the Fake News talking about these wonderful facts? Because it is FAKE NEWS!" Trump tweeted Sunday.
Repatriation was one of the items discussed last month at the historic meeting in Singapore between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un.
The U.S. is reported to have sent 100 coffins to the DMZ to transport any remains returned.
State Department correspondent Nike Ching contributed to this report.
