Japan, US ink memorandum for war dead retrieval

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) - Japan has signed a memorandum with the U.S. to establish cooperation in retrieving remains of those killed in World War II, according to media reports.

The memorandum was signed by Japan’s Health Ministry and U.S. Department of Defense to share information in areas including DNA analysis technology, Tokyo-based daily Mainichi reported.

The ministry will work with Pentagon's Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) to recover remains in conflict zones.

The report said that the step will help the country to collect remains of Japanese war dead and improve efforts to identify them.

It said that U.S. has also continued efforts to recover remains of those fallen in the Pacific War.

“It [U.S.] has a facility at an air base in Pearl Harbor, Hawaii, for identifying remains, and is researching ID methods other than DNA testing,” the report added.

“The remains of some 590,000 people are thought to be retrievable by the government, but the number actually being recovered has been declining to less than 1,000 a year,” the daily said.

Japan enacted a law in 2016 to promote the collection of remains of the war dead.

The law implies collection of remains as a state responsibility. “The government is urged to make intensive efforts to retrieve the remains over a nine-year period until fiscal 2024,” the daily said.

In past, Japan handed over remains of U.S. soldiers found in the southernmost prefecture of Okinawa -- a major WWII battleground.

Now, the DPAA will also exchange information with Japanese side about burial sites.

The areas where remains of the war dead are buried lie in remote areas which are only accessible by helicopter.