South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense’s Recovery and Identification Unit will conduct a joint operation with the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) from April 6 to May 1. Their mission: to search for remnants and clues of U.S. military aircraft that went down during the Korean War in Gangneung and Yangyang, Gangwon Province.
This operation lays the groundwork for a joint underwater survey slated for August. The team will gather local intel, review pertinent documents, and assess underwater equipment, including civilian-owned decompression chambers.
The August underwater search will focus on a November 15, 1952 incident. A transport plane, after taking off from Gangneung on its way to Pohang, crashed due to an engine failure. Nine souls, including the pilot, went missing. Reports indicate a South Korean soldier was also on board.
The recovery team and DPAA will also investigate two other 1952 air disasters. One involves a fighter jet that crashed off the coast of Yangyang on February 21. The other occurred on October 16, when a transport aircraft experiencing mechanical issues went down in waters near Gangneung, leaving 17 personnel unaccounted for.