Remains of British Korean War dead may never be found

The bodies of dozens of British soldiers killed during the Korean war will never be recovered, the Government has admitted.

The first official count of Britain’s missing war dead from the war has established the remains of 255 UK servicemen and women are lying in North Korea – roughly a quarter of the 1,129 Britons who died in the war.

Ministers are now appealing to relatives of British troops who lost their lives in the war to provide DNA samples so they can be identified.

However, the remains of a further 46 servicemen and women are classified as “with no known grave” and so either “lost at sea or buried at sea” with little chance of being recovered.

The Korean War is sometimes been called a ‘forgotten war’ despite up to three million people losing their lives, including thousands of US and British servicemen and women.

Hopes were raised this year that the bodies of the British war dead can be repatriated after a summit between US president Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.

That triggered the return of around 55 caskets of remains - some of whom may be British – in late July that have been found in the North since the end of the four-year Korean War in 1954.

In a letter to Lord Alton of Liverpool, the campaigning Liberal Democrat peer, Earl Howe, a Ministry of Defence minister, said officials had “recently concluded an exercise to cross-reference records in the UK and the British embassy in Seoul of those personnel with no known grave, to confirm the number of personnel whose remains might possibly in North Korea.

“From a total of 301 UK service personnel with no known grave, I can now confirm the remains of 255 UK service personnel are believed to be in North Korea.

“This represents 23 per cent of the 1,129 service personnel  who died as result of Korean War between 27 June 1950 and 27 July 1954. The remaining 46 with no known grave were either lost at sea or buried at sea.”

Earl Howe added: “You may like to know that following the commitment of the US and DPRK to recover Service personnel missing or killed in North Korea, the Ministry of Defence is offering the opportunity for relatives of UK service personnel killed or missing in action in the Korean War to provide DNA samples to facilitate identification.”

Lord Alton, who is a co-chairman of the All Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea, said it was vital that the remains of the 255 British soldiers are repatriated.

He said: “The Korean War has sometimes been called a forgotten war - one in which up to 3 million people lost their lives.

“Brave British servicemen served with distinction and courage, notably, of course, the Gloucesters.

“During decades of great cruelty, the North Korean Communist regime refused to allow the return of the remains of men who were lost, missing in action. 

“Although some welcome small steps have been taken to return the mortal remains of some of the American personnel who were killed, it now seems that many of our own men will never be returned home. 

“The passage of time has not dimmed the memories of families whose loved ones were lost. Their families have never forgotten them or their sacrifice and nor should we. 

“We hope that if the political climate improves the U.K. Government will continue to keep pressing the North Korean regime for any information it has about the final resting places of these courageous British servicemen and not give up on securing the return of their mortal remains to Britain.”

Ministry of Defence sources said North Korea had “not indicated whether further remains will be returned to the US“ which could allow Britain remains to be sent to the UK.

The source said: “Any further remains returned by North Korea would likely follow a similar process. UK policy is not to actively search for remains to identify and re-inter them. However, where remains are recovered, efforts are made to provide a positive identification.”   Nicola Nash, a spokesman at the Joint Casualty and Compassionate Centre, said: “We are currently attempting to gather the contact information of the families of these brave men who were killed during the Korean War but have no known grave.

“Although the process of tracing families, DNA testing and identification will probably take many years, we are hoping that as many families as possible will come forward after seeing our press appeals so that we are prepared.”