South Korea in uphill battle to recover Korean War remains

The Korean War ended 68 years ago, but South Korea is still trying to recover its soldiers' remains

ANYANG, South Korea -- On the first day of each month, Kwak Geum-ja makes a pilgrimage to a Korean War memorial in her neighborhood to pray for her father, a South Korean soldier who died in battle when she was just a baby. His remains have yet to be recovered, and the aging Kwak is eager for them to be found and interred at the national cemetery. “I’m over 70 now. I won’t have any regrets in my life if I recover my father’s remains before I die,” a teary-eyed Kwak said during an interview in the city of Anyang, just south of the capital, Seoul. “I just want to see and confirm them with my eyes. Nothing more.” Kwak is among the tens of thousands of South Koreans hoping the remains of their loved ones — soldiers who perished during the 1950-53 Korean War — will be found.