On Saturday, the US military moved 100 wooden "temporary transit cases" to the inter-Korean border to receive the remains of the soldiers. Separately, it has moved 158 metal coffins to Osan Air Base in Gyeonggi Province.

"It is our firm, unwavering position to open a new future for world peace and security," said Uriminzokkiri, a North Korean propaganda website.

"By faithfully implementing the joint statement that North Korea and the US have announced, we will conscientiously fulfill our responsibility to address decadeslong tensions and hostile relations, and open a new era of the North-US cooperation," it added.

Another propaganda media, DPRK Today, struck a similar note. DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, which is the North's official name.

"The path to thoroughly implementing the North-US joint statement is the path to securing the common interests of the peoples of the two countries, and peace, security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the world," it said in a piece under the name of a social science researcher.

The ongoing repatriation work bodes well for the future of the joint statement under which the North Korean leader reaffirmed his commitment to the "complete denuclearization" of the peninsula.

It came on the heels of the decision by Seoul and Washington to indefinitely halt their combined military exercises, which Trump, after his summit with Kim, called "provocative, expensive and inappropriate." (Yonhap)