The Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency conduct a joint excavation for the remains of service members killed during the 1950-53 Korean War on Hill 1016, known as Mount Baekseok, in Yanggu County, Gangwon Province, Aug. 31, 2021. Courtesy of Ministry of National DefenseThe Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification (MAKRI) and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) have assembled a joint survey team of roughly 10 personnel to locate the remains of American service members killed or missing during the 1950-53 Korean War. The survey runs Tuesday through June 26.The team will operate across six regions nationwide: Hongcheon in Gangwon Province; Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi Province; Changwon in South Gyeongsang Province; Mungyeong and Sangju in North Gyeongsang Province; and Yeongdong in North Chungcheong Province.Two of the six sites — Hwachon and Duchon townships in Hongcheon, and Yangdong township in Yangpyeong — were identified by the DPAA as survey location candidates at a January trilateral working-level coordination meeting with Korean, U.S. and Australian officials. Both areas saw casualties from the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division during the Chinese offensives in February and May 1951; 13 personnel went missing in Hongcheon and 37 were killed or went missing in Yangpyeong.In Changwon's Masan Happo District and Yeongdong, MAKRI received direct tips from local residents regarding fallen American troops. The two sites correspond to the Battle of Masan and the Yeongdong-Gimcheon battle, respectively, and the surveys will be guided by witness accounts from residents who say they saw or buried American casualties.Mungyeong and Sangju are follow-up surveys of sites that MAKRI and the DPAA first examined last June. The area is where the U.S. 25th Infantry Division suffered 10 missing personnel during delaying actions conducted in July 1950 ahead of the establishment of the Nakdong River defensive line.Dr. Claire M. Barnewolt, the DPAA investigation team leader visiting Korea for the mission, said tracing the whereabouts of service members who were killed or went missing far from home is extremely difficult, but that the difficulty does not excuse the agencies from their obligation. She said MAKRI and the DPAA would work closely together to secure decisive leads on the whereabouts of the remains.This article was published with the assistance of generative AI and edited by The Korea Times.