Deal for MIAs in N. Korea collapses

WASHINGTON -- The Pentagon has suspended efforts to recover the remains of U.S. troops in North Korea, the latest indication that recently negotiated agreements between the two countries are at risk of falling apart.

The announcement came less than a week after North Korea said it intends to use a rocket to blast a satellite into space, a move interpreted as a thinly veiled missile test that would violate UN resolutions.

"Look, fundamentally, this is about them meeting international obligations," Pentagon spokesman Navy Capt. John Kirby said Wednesday. "This launch they said they're going to conduct violates those obligations. And we have to hold them [to] account for that."

More than 7,960 U.S. service members from the Korean War are still missing, with 5,300 of them thought to be buried in North Korea. For decades, efforts to recover the remains have been stop-and-go, tied up in U.S. attempts to engage with the isolated authoritarian government over its nuclear weapons program.

Last year, after six years of diplomatic gridlock, U.S. officials reached an agreement with North Korea to resume recovery, bringing a measure of hope to frustrated families awaiting the return of loved ones. That agreement soon led to an even more significant deal last month in which North Korea agreed to suspend its nuclear program and missile tests and allow nuclear inspectors into its facilities in exchange for desperately needed food aid.

Now, with North Korea's satellite launch scheduled for next month, the food deal is almost certainly dead and the recovery of remains halted indefinitely. It's unclear whether a planned visit to North Korea by international nuclear inspectors will go ahead.