The US and North Korea have agreed to resume the search for the remains of US soldiers killed during the Korean War, with working-level meetings to begin on Monday, US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said.

The agreement came at a general-level meeting between the two sides on Sunday at the border village of Panmunjom, which Pompeo said was “productive and cooperative and resulted in firm commitments” in a statement. 

“Working level meetings between US and North Korean officials will begin on Monday, July 16, to coordinate the next steps, including the transfer of remains already collected in the DPRK,” Pompeo said in the statement. DPRK is the acronym for North Korea’s official name, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea.

“Additionally, both sides agreed to re-commence field operations in the DPRK to search for the estimated 5,300 Americans who never returned home.”

Repatriating the remains of US troops killed during the Korean War was one of the agreements that US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un made during their historic summit in Singapore last month. A statement signed by both leaders promised the “immediate repatriation of those already identified.”

“This meeting was aimed at fulfilling one of the commitments made by Chairman Kim at the Singapore Summit,” Pompeo said in the statement, noting that it was the first meeting between North Korean and US generals since 2009.

Sunday’s meeting was initially planned for Thursday, but the North failed to show up and instead proposed holding a general-level meeting with the US-led United Nations Command on Sunday, according to the US State Department. North Korean officials are reported to have cited “a lack of preparations” as the reason for skipping Thursday’s meeting.

The US Department of Defense estimates that North Korea is holding about 200 sets of remains from some 5,300 American military personnel believed to be missing there. The US military announced that 100 wooden coffins had been dispatched to Panmunjom to receive the remains.

Efforts to repatriate the remains of the US soldiers in the North were suspended in 2005 when the relationship between the two nations worsened over the North’s nuclear weapons program. More than 440 sets of remains were repatriated to the US from 1990-2007.

Pompeo unveiled the plan for talks on the return of the remains of the US soldiers after visiting Pyongyang to flesh out details of North Korea’s denuclearization earlier this month.

The meetings on the return of remains of the US soldiers come amid growing worries over a deadlock in follow-up negotiations on North Korea’s denuclearization. After Pompeo’s visit to Pyongyang, Pompeo himself said it was “productive,” but North Korea denounced the US’ “unilateral and gangster-like demand for denuclearization.”

Lee Do-hoon, South Korea’s top nuclear envoy, said Friday in a meeting with reporters in Washington that follow-up negotiations between the countries would take place soon.

By Ock Hyun-ju (laeticia.ock@heraldcorp.com)