The following article is an opinion piece by Rick Downes, president of the Coalition of Families of Korean & Cold War POW/MIAs. Views expressed in opinion articles are exclusively the author’s own and do not represent those of NK News.

Wednesday marks the 69th anniversary of the signing of the Korean War. This year, the U.S. will honor the 36,000 Americans who sacrificed their lives in that three-year conflict with a new Wall of Remembrance at the Korean War memorial in Washington. 

But even as the U.S. remembers those who died, it must not forget the some 5,300 U.S. servicemen left behind in North Korea, in many cases without their families knowing if they had lived or died. 

Sadly, no one is actively looking for these men — my father among them. I was just three years old when my dad, Lt. Hal Downes, went missing in action in North Korea on Jan. 13, 1952. He was 26 years old.

Growing up without him was painful enough, but not knowing his fate also robbed my family of closure. The uncertainty of his whereabouts left open a wound that has never healed. There are thousands of other American families like mine whose fathers, brothers, uncles and grandfathers are still unknowns after nearly seven decades.

They need a champion in the White House. The Biden administration must prioritize the recovery of U.S. servicemen and women lost during the Korean War, not only because it would help bring closure to thousands of American families, but also because it would provide an important opportunity to improve relations and help restart diplomacy with North Korea.

The recovery of missing U.S. servicemembers has long been a national commitment, engrained in the language of our military. Millions of dollars are spent supporting the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, which is ready to recover and identify any missing war dead around the world. 

Prioritizing the Korean War recovery mission at the policy level will create more opportunities for this agency to do its job.

In a statement to mark National Korean War Armistice Day, U.S. President Joe Biden said he is “committed to fully accounting for all of our Prisoners of War (POWs) and Missing in Action (MIAs),” echoing his past remarks on the issue.

And yet, Biden has not prioritized the search for Korean War MIAs. He is not the only president to ignore this responsibility. Successive administrations, regardless of political affiliation, have had no active policy on the Korean War MIA issue, which is continually sidelined for political reasons.

PAST COOPERATION

While Washington often blames Pyongyang for the lack of progress, the responsibility largely falls on the White House, as North Korea has repeatedly shown a willingness to engage the U.S. in this area. 

In the early 1990s, Pyongyang unilaterally sent 208 boxes of remains home. In 1996, North Korea agreed to a joint recovery operation with the U.S., resulting in 153 identifications. But in 2005, the Bush administration ended these operations. In 2007, North Korea returned seven sets of remains. U.S. and North Korean officials agreed to resume joint recovery of remains in 2011, but unrelated issues again led the Obama administration to suspend the effort in 2012.

In 2016, I traveled to North Korea with the Richardson Center for Global Engagement to negotiate the return of collected remains and investigate U.S. Korean War air losses. As the plane carrying our delegation approached Pyongyang’s airport, it took us over countryside where my father’s plane is believed to have gone down. The moment was all that I could ever hope it could be.

We met with the DPRK’s vice foreign minister and left with an offer to return remains. In exchange, North Korea wanted a letter from the Obama administration acknowledging the return as a humanitarian gesture.

It would have perhaps led to my father’s homecoming, and certainly those of other missing men. But the White House was “wary” of Pyongyang’s intentions and never accepted the offer as it prioritized the unrelated political issue of North Korea’s nuclear weapons program, in what was becoming a heartbreaking pattern.

The 2018 Singapore Summit provided a glimmer of hope. The U.S. and North Korea committed to “establish new U.S.-DPRK relations” and “to recovering POW/MIA remains, including the immediate repatriation of those already identified.” Within months, North Korea returned 55 boxes of remains. Sadly, President Trump slammed shut the door to further engagement in 2019.

WHAT BIDEN CAN DO

Through active efforts, the White House can still reopen this door. All causes need champions, and the president can and should become a champion of the recovery mission.

For starters, Biden should mention the mission publicly and at least somewhat frequently. The families are always listening. North Korea is likely listening, too. Biden should also acknowledge the DPRK’s activities in support of the recovery mission, and the fact that the U.S. could have been more responsive.

The Biden administration must broaden the U.S. relationship with North Korea. The U.S. has cultural, economic, and political involvement with other nuclear nations, so why not the DPRK? This would provide important opportunities to build trust and reduce tensions. Another important step would be toning down annual joint U.S.-ROK military exercises, which the DPRK has long objected to.

What the U.S. should not do is continue to condition discussions about finding and identifying remains on North Korea’s denuclearization. The administration has shown a willingness to separate the nuclear issue from humanitarian goals, and doing so for the POW/MIA issue would be a positive step toward bringing more soldiers back home.

Finally, the Biden administration should take steps to formally end the Korean War by replacing the armistice with a peace agreement, a measure supported by members of both U.S. political parties. Thousands of Americans fought, died and went missing to accomplish this.

The families of the missing men are waiting. We are frustrated and angry over the inaction. And time is running out.