The US Pentagon on Wednesday abruptly suspended US efforts to recover the remains of American soldiers from the Democrat People's Republic of Korea (DPRK). The country was creating an environment that could have jeopardized the safety of US workers, the Defense Department said.

No specifics were provided. The announcement came amid rising tensions with DPRK over its nuclear weapons and missile programs and concern that it might be preparing a live nuclear test.

The Bush administration also has been critical of Kim Jong Il's government for refusing to resume talks with the United States, Russia, China, Japan and South Korea over the future of its nuclear ambitions.

A senior Pentagon spokesman, Lawrence Di Rita, said Defense Secretary Donald H. Rumsfeld had recommended halting efforts to recover the remains. Di Rita mentioned concerns about restrictions by DPRK on the use of communications devices by US personnel while they are on DPRK's territory. They are not allowed to call outside the country.

Other defense officials, speaking on condition of anonymity because they were not authorized to discuss details, said Rumsfeld's decision was less about such specifics but more about a broader unease among senior administration officials with the overall direction of DPRK policies.

The remains recovery program was suspended once before, from October 2002 to June 2003. That came after the DPRK disclosed to a State Department envoy that they had secretly been running an active nuclear weapons program.

The recovery missions began in 1996 and are the only form of US-DPRK military cooperation.

Veterans groups have lobbied to keep the recovery operations going.

So far the work has returned more than 220 remains of US soldiers who died in the Korean War, with the US government paying millions of dollars in cash to the DPRK government for logistical support. Thousands more soldiers are still missing, and a large number of the remains are believed recoverable.

The suspension came just one day after the Pentagon announced that a number of remains of US soldiers had been recovered during the first of what had been scheduled to be a series of missions this year at two former battlefields in DPRK. That announcement gave no indication there was a problem with safety.

"The United States is prepared to continue Joint POW/MIA Accounting Command humanitarian missions to locate, recover and repatriate the remains of Americans still missing in DPRK after they have created an appropriate environment," said a statement issued by US Pacific Command, which overseas the missions.

A spokesman, Lt. Cmdr. Jason Salata, said the decision to suspend operations was made Tuesday by the Defense Department.

"The overall environment that the DPRK has created is not conducive to the effective operation of the missions, so there's a risk there and it's a force protection risk that we view as not ensuring the safest conditions for our recovery teams," Salata said.

The communications restriction was agreed upon by both sides when they negotiated the terms of the current series of recovery missions. Salata could not say why the restriction is now deemed unacceptable.

More than 8,000 US troops are still missing from the Korean War, which ended in July 1953.

(Chinadaily.com via agencies May 26, 2005)