WASHINGTON - Officials from the United States and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) are to meet on resuming recovery of the remains of US soldiers missing in action from the Korean War, the US Defense Department said Monday.

According to the Pentagon, the US delegation will meet in Bangkok on October 18 with the DPRK side. The US team will be led by Robert Newberry, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Prisoner of War (POW)/missing personnel affairs. The negotiation team also includes representatives from the Department of State, the Defense POW/Missing Personnel Office, the Joint POW/MIA (Missing in Action) Accounting Command, the US Pacific Command and the United Nations Command-Korea.

The talks will only address the issue of resuming remains recovery of missing US soldiers from the Korean War. Accounting for Americans missing in action is a stand-alone matter, not tied to any other issue between the two countries, said the Pentagon.

Of the approximately 83,000 Americans missing from all conflicts, more than 7,900 are from the Korean War with 5,500 of those believed to be missing in the DPRK, according to the Pentagon.