The remains of thousands of American soldiers killed during the Korean War are being "carried away en masse," to clear areas for construction work, a North Korean spokesman said Monday.
An unnamed North Korean military spokesman said the remains are "left here and there uncared and carried away en masse" due to land and building projects and flood damage, the Associated Press reported.
In 1996, the U.S. and North Korea collaborated on missions to recover some 5,300 missing American service members believed to have died in North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War.
After the remains of 225 troops were recovered, then Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld suspended the missions in 2005 due to security concerns over North Korea's nuclear activities, The Economic Times reported.
The recovery missions resumed in 2011 only to be halted a year later over a controversial rocket launch.
Since then, North Korea has accused the U.S. of abandoning its soldiers.
"History will curse and condemn the U.S. administration...for scuttling such humanitarian work," the North Korean spokesman said according to the ET.
"The Obama administration should not forget even a moment the proverb saying that even a skeleton cries out of yearning for the homeland," the spokesman said, according to the AP.
But experts say the cash-strapped country is pressuring the U.S. to resume the missions to receive funding for assisting the recovery. In the past, North Korea has received millions during U.S.-led recovery missions, the ET reported.
Though the U.S. and North Korea are no longer engaging in battle, the Korean War technically isn't over because it concluded with an armistice and not a peace treaty, the AP reported.
To this day, the U.S. and North Korea do not have official diplomatic relations. Washington officials have stated that North Korea must show it's serious about nuclear disarmament if relations are to improve.
