Roanoke Times
                 Copyright (c) 1995, Landmark Communications, Inc.

DATE: TUESDAY, May 29, 1990                   TAG: 9005290013
SECTION: NATIONAL/INTERNATIONAL                    PAGE: A3   EDITION: METRO 
SOURCE: Associated Press
DATELINE: PANMUNJOM, KOREA                                LENGTH: Medium

N. KOREA RETURNS SOLDIERS' REMAINS

It is the first return of U.S. Korean War dead from Communist North Korea since 1954.

The remains were handed over to a U.S. congressional delegation at the truce village of Panmunjom inside the Demilitarized Zone separating South Korea and North Korea.

The return of the remains is widely seen as a gesture by North Korea to improve relations with the United States. The countries do not have diplomatic relations.

The transfer came after Rep. G.V. "Sonny" Montgomery, D-Miss., chairman of the House Veterans Affairs Committee, signed a document with a North Korean lawmaker confirming he received the remains.

"I hope the positive step will expedite the transfer of additional remains of those from all countries who died in the conflict," Montgomery said.

He then walked into the North Korean sector of the village and checked each coffin containing the remains of the dead soldiers. There was an additional box with each coffin containing personal belongings such as buttons and pieces of clothes.

The wooden coffins and boxes were brought to the southern side of the village by 12 North Korean pallbearers dressed in suits and white gowns. They wore badges with a picture of North Korea's President Kim Il Sung on their chests.

The coffins were then draped with United Nations flags and given honor guards. An army chaplain officiated over a moment of prayer.

The remains were then turned over to the U.S. military to be sent to a forensic laboratory in Hawaii for identification.

The U.S. Defense Department said the North Koreans identified two of the dead as Army 1st Lt. Jack J. Saunders, 27, of Ogden, Utah, and Army Cpl. Arthur Leo Seaton, 20, whose family lived in Chester, Pa.

Both soldiers were listed as missing in action in February 1951, the Pentagon said.

The identities of the other three dead were not known.