What method is used to identify the remains of American troops in North Korea?

according to the Pentagon, more than 7,7 Americans were "unaccounted for" during the Korean War, and about 5,3 of them were missing in North Korea. At present, 91% families of missing persons have kept DNA data samples. Through DNA comparison, it can be confirmed whether known relatives and unconfirmed remains belong to the same lineage. This huge DNA database provides an important reference for identifying human remains. Willie, an honorary professor at California State University Chico, said that the US Department of Defense's Statistics Bureau of Prisoners of War and Missing Soldiers will work closely with the DNA Identification Laboratory of the Delaware Armed Forces Medical Inspection System to verify the accurate identity of these remains as soon as possible. But it may take several years to complete these tasks, even until the 192s.

the us media said that the identification of the remains took so long, first of all, it took time to determine the identity of the remains of the us military. US Department of Defense officials disclosed that preliminary identification showed that these remains "may belong to Americans". When the North Korean side handed over the remains, it provided the identification cards of American soldiers commonly known as "dog tags". However, it is not clear to the United States whether the remains of the personnel related to the identification card are in this batch of remains. This means that American forensic researchers must spend more time looking for connections from clues such as gunshot wounds of the remains or the location where the remains were found provided by the DPRK, so as to speculate on the true identity of those who died more than 6 years ago.

Secondly, identifying the integrity of human remains is also a headache. If the appraisers confirm that a human remains belong to someone's complete bones, they can start DNA matching within a few days, and once the connection is determined, the laboratory will evaluate who the remains are. Then, other evidence clues will be comprehensively considered, and additional verification work will be completed within a few months, and explanatory reports will be drafted and approved by superiors.

But the key problem is that it is not clear whether the remains of each coffin come from one person or from the bones of several people. The report explained that in the 199s, North Korea also handed over more than 2 US military remains to the United States, many of which were actually the bones of many people, and this may be the case this time. For the appraisers, the mixed remains are a nightmare. Even with all the sophisticated identification technologies, it is a very time-consuming process to distinguish the remains of different missing persons. Professor Willie said that the appraisers had to separate all the remains, match them slowly according to the human structure, and then calculate how many people it was. This process can not be careless, "must be responsible for the fallen soldiers and their families."

finally, technical appraisal cannot solve all problems. DNA technology can indeed help match and identify the remains of American soldiers, but these technologies are not omnipotent. If the DNA data don't match, the appraiser can only look for clues from the chest X-rays and other medical records of the missing person. Even if the relevant records are found, some of the matching work is like looking for a needle in a haystack, and it may take years to find an accurate answer. Sometimes it takes a lot of trouble, but the result of identification proves that the remains are not Americans, but French, British or Australian who fought in the name of "United Nations Army". Charles prichard, spokesman of the Statistics Department of Prisoners of War and Missing Soldiers of the U.S. Department of Defense, disclosed that so far, some of the bones shipped back from North Korea between 199 and 25 have not been identified. In this view, it is really not so easy to fulfill the promise of "letting the soldiers go home".