Korean War Accounting

Korean-War

Since 1982, the remains of over 450 Americans killed in the Korean War have been identified and returned to their families for burial with full military honors. This number is in addition to the roughly 2,000 Americans whose remains were identified in the years following the end of hostilities, when the North Korean government returned over 3,000 sets of remains to U.S. custody

Under 7,500 Americans are still unaccounted-for from the Korean War, hundreds of whom are believed to be in a “non-recoverable” category, meaning that after rigorous investigation DPAA has determined that the individual perished but does not believe it is possible to recover the remains. On rare occasions, new leads can bring a case back to active status.

DPAA and our partners continue to build on over sixty years of investigative efforts on the Korean peninsula. Each year, DPAA plans multiple investigations of loss sites in South Korea to collect evidence, investigate leads, and conduct excavations.

In its three years, one month, and two days, some 3 million people from all involved belligerents died during the Korean War, making it the deadliest conflict of the Cold War era. The United States suffered approximately 36,500 casualties, making up over 90% of non-Korean UN losses. Of those, over 7,000 personnel remain unaccounted for.

All laboratory cases from Korea are under the purview of the Korean War Identification Project, including unilateral turnovers (the K208 and K55), field recoveries (JROs), and cemetery disinterments (Punchbowl Unknowns), representing the largest identification project within the DPAA. Cases from Korea represent highly commingled human remains involving thousands of missing persons from varied proveniences, while the Korean War Identification Project highlights the challenges and successes of a multi-disciplinary approach involving historians, anthropologists, odontologists, and DNA and isotope specialists working with family members towards identification and resolution.

Progress on Korean War Personnel Accounting

Korean War Identification Project

Korean War Disinterment Project

POW March Routes and U.N. Cemeteries

POW Camps in North Korea

Major Remains Concentrations in North Korea

Korean War Air Loss Maps

U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs

Joint Commision Support Division

Through its Joint Commission Support Division (JCSD), Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) provides administrative and analytic support to the U.S. Side of the U.S.-Russia Joint Commission on POW/MIAs (USRJC) and conducts research in Russia on missing U.S. service personnel. JCSD also assists the Government of Russia with efforts to account for its missing.

USRJC POW/MIAs

China Operations Total Each Category Identified
Remains repatriated through unilateral operations (2014) 1 0
Remains repatriated through unilateral operations (1975) 2 2
Remains recovered and repatriated through investigative and recovery operations since 1992 23 23
Total remains identified 1975 to present -- 25

Personnel Accounting Progress in China

Korean War
Facts & Figures

  • Dates
  • June 27, 1950 – July 27, 1953
  • Location
  • Korean Peninsula
  • Missing as of 1973*
  • 8157
  • Accounted For**
  • 681
  • Unaccounted For
  • 7476
  • See Also: Defense Casualty Analysis System,
    Korean War
  • *Casualty numbers are related to only those associated to our mission starting from 1973 to present and don't reflect the total number of missing from each conflict.
  • **To respect the next-of-kin, individuals are only displayed as “Accounted For” in the grids and case profiles when (1) DPAA has made the identification, and (2) the next-of-kin has been notified.
  • Numbers that are not associated with individual names will continue to update as soon as an identification has been made.
 

Search Missing Personnel

Search Korean War Missing Personnel Profiles

Explore Korean War Incidents

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Battle of Chosin Reservoir
Chosin
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Battle of Unsan
Unsan
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Korean Air Battles
The Air War in Korea
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The Inchon Campaign
Inchon
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The Pusan Perimeter
Pusan
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The DMZ Campaigns
The DMZ
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Operation Glory
Operation Glory
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Korean War
POW Camps
 

PAST AND CURRENT KOREAN WAR ACCOUNTING EFFORTS

The search for remains in South Korea started before the armistice was signed in 1953, and since then, North Korean and U.S. military authorities have conducted exchanges of remains and information. From 1951 to 1956, the U.S. Army Graves Registration Service and divisional quartermaster units recovered remains for over 25,000 individuals. In 1954, North Korean representatives returned over 3,000 remains in an exchange known as Operation Glory. The U.S. identified thousands of these remains

In 1956, a total of 848 sets of remains that could not be identified were buried in the National Memorial Cemetery of the Pacific, known as the Punchbowl. Others were added later as unknowns. One of the unknowns was interred in the Tomb of the Unknown Soldier at Arlington National Cemetery near Washington, D.C. Since the mid-1980s, the U.S. Department of Defense has authorized exhumations of unknowns for potential identification, and starting in 2016, established policy to govern the disinternment of unknowns for identification. DPAA’s efforts to disinter and identify unknowns from the Korean War are ongoing

Between 1990 and 1994, North Korean representatives gave U.S. officials 208 boxes of human remains that Department of Defense scientists estimate may hold remains of over 400 individuals. From 1996 to 2005, North Korea granted U.S. search teams access to crash sites, battlefields, and prison camp cemeteries. Excavations done in those areas have resulted in the repatriation of over 220 U.S. remains.

Outside of disinterments and field activities, DPAA has conducted archival research and has collected oral histories from veterans. From 1997 to 1999, North Korea provided the U.S. with documents and artifacts for review. In the U.S., Korean War veterans have been interviewed at reunions and other venues

On July 27, 2018, the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (DRPK) turned over 55 boxes that reportedly contained the remains of U.S. servicemen killed during the Korean War. DPAA received the remains on August 1, 2018, and efforts to identify these remains are ongoing.

 

Johnnie Johnson List

In October 1950, a North Korean Army major referred to as "The Tiger" took command of more than 700 American servicemen who had been captured and interned as POWs. In August 1953, following the signing of the armistice, only 262 of these men returned alive. One of the survivors, Army Pfc. Wayne A. "Johnnie" Johnson, risked his life during his imprisonment by secretly recording the names of 496 fellow prisoners who had died during their captivity.

DoD debriefed all returning American POWs concerning their knowledge of those who did not return from the Communist prison system. Johnson's painstakingly written record was a major contribution to this effort and helped to determine or confirm the fate of many POWs.

In 1995, a Defense Prisoner of War/Missing Personnel Office (DPMO) analyst learned about Johnson's Tiger Survivors List while attending a Korean War Ex-POW reunion in Sacramento, California. DPMO analysts then located intelligence archives which contained Johnson's original debriefing report as well as other POW reports corroborating his information. Among these records a debriefer's handwritten memorandum recommending that Private Johnson be recognized for his bravery. This information was forwarded to the Department of the Army, and in 1996, Johnson was awarded the Silver Star, the nation's third highest military combat decoration for valor.

A document examiner was able to recover almost all the names from Johnson's original wartime list. Some entries, however, could not be saved. Thus, there are fewer than 496 names on the typed listing, which is available on the Johnnie Johnson List page.

 

How You Can Help

To learn about how you can submit documentation about a case, send us your loved one’s photo, contact your Service Casualty Officer, or help in any other way, please click here.