A U.S. Air Force transport departed North Korea on Friday following a mission to pick up the remains of U.S. service members who died in the Korean War, Fox News reported.
Yonhap News, citing a government source, said the plane took off from an air base in South Korea just before 6 a.m. local time, en route to Kalma Airport in Wonsan, North Korea.
The White House released a statement confirming that a U.S. Air Force C-17 plane carrying the remains had left North Korea and would bring them to Osan Air Base, where a ceremony will be held next week.
"At their historic meeting in Singapore, President Donald J. Trump and Chairman Kim Jong Un took a bold first step to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, transform relations between the United States and North Korea, and establish enduring peace," the statement said. "Today, the Chairman is fulfilling part of the commitment he made to the President to return our fallen American service members. We are encouraged by North Koreas actions and the momentum for positive change."
About 7,700 U.S. soldiers are listed as missing from the Korean War, which lasted from 1950 to 1953. Millions of combatants and civilians died during the war, including 36,000 American service members.