The White House has asked the Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) what it could do should 
Donald Trump reach a deal with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un. The agency's director, Kelly McKeague, said so Monday at an online forum hosted by the National Committee on North Korea, a nonprofit organization. He said the DPAA had told the White House and the Defense Department that it is "ready" for engagement with Pyongyang to recover the remains of U.S. troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
What did McKeague say about the request? "I would say that it's no different than the lead-up to the Singapore summit in 2018. We were asked again what could we do from an art of the possible if President Trump was able to enter into an agreement with the North Korean leader," McKeague said. The agency told the White House it would be "very helpful" for North Korea to turn over remains it is holding and to resume joint field missions in the North, which last took place in 2005.
What has the agency proposed? The DPAA has told the White House it envisions a program under which two teams, one at Unsan and the other at Chosin, would operate at North Korean sites four times a year for 42-day periods, McKeague said. The remains of some 5,300 U.S. troops are believed to still be in the North. Joint excavations ran from 1996 to 2005, and since then there have been just two unilateral turnovers of American remains, one aided by former New Mexico Gov. Bill Richardson in 2007 and the other by Trump through his 2018 Singapore summit with Kim, Yonhap reported.
Is a new summit in view? Trump has expressed his intention to meet Kim later this year, after three meetings in his first term: Singapore in June 2018, Hanoi in February 2019 and Panmunjom in June 2019. He is seeking a meeting that could take place during his next trip to Asia, likely for the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation summit in Shenzhen, China, in November, Yonhap reported, citing The Wall Street Journal. McKeague said he was "hopeful" about engagement with Pyongyang given Trump's pursuit of diplomacy with Kim, telling the forum the president "is willing to speak to the North Korean leader just as he did in 2018."
How does the agency describe the mission? "We like to think of this mission in particular as humanitarian first and foremost. But it's also a tool of engagement," McKeague said.
Figures referenced: Donald Trump. — JudgeMarket.
