U.S., South Korea plan Korean War remains search

May 29, 2026

Summary

U.S., South Korea agencies will search six sites for missing Korean War service members and identify three sets of presumed U.S. remains.

Why this matters

The effort aims to recover and identify U.S. service members still missing from the Korean War, more than 70 years after the conflict. It also reflects ongoing U.S.-South Korea cooperation on wartime accounting and repatriation.

Seoul and Washington are planning a joint, nationwide search for the remains of U.S. service members missing from the Korean War, according to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense.

The ministry said Tuesday that its Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification (MAKRI) and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) formed a 10-member team to look for 50 American service members killed or missing in battles involving the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division.

Investigators will survey six locations: Hongcheon in Gangwon province; Yangpyeong in Gyeonggi province; Changwon in South Gyeongsang province; Mungyeong and Sangju in North Gyeongsang province; and Yeongdong in North Chungcheong province.

The ministry said DPAA identified Hongcheon and Yangpyeong as possible sites tied to missing troops in January during a working-level meeting involving the United States, South Korea, and Australia. Those areas are linked to battles during Chinese offensives in 1951, the ministry said.

In Changwon, teams will focus on areas tied to the Battle of Masan Defense. In Yeongdong, investigators will examine sites linked to the Battle of Yeongdong-Gimcheon.

The ministry said the locations were selected based on testimony from residents who said they saw U.S. casualties or helped bury soldiers during the war. In Mungyeong and Sangju, investigators are revisiting sites that MAKRI and DPAA examined last year for additional evidence tied to missing soldiers from the U.S. 25th Infantry Division.

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Virginia

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Virginia colleges and universities could face new competition and federal scrutiny under draft U.S. Department of Education rules that would change how higher education accreditors are overseen.

Accreditation affects colleges’ access to federal financial aid, the credibility of degrees, credit transfers, and accountability standards.

President Donald Trump directed the Education Department to pursue the changes in an April executive order. The order said accreditors had focused less on outcomes such as affordability, graduation, and employment, and more on diversity, equity, and inclusion policies.

“Accreditation is not simply a compliance exercise, but a peer-driven process that assures quality across a diverse higher education system,” the Council for Higher Education Accreditation said in an April 14 statement. “As this process moves forward, we hope for a balanced framework that strengthens quality and student success while preserving the core strengths of accreditation: peer review; respect for institutional mission; and a focus on continuous improvement.”

Most Virginia colleges and universities are accredited by the Southern Association of Colleges and Schools Commission on Colleges.

The administration has not specifically targeted that accreditor. In December, however, the commission said it would make changes to improve efficiency and oversight.

According to the Education Department, after two public hearings and nonpublic sessions, an accreditation, innovation, and modernization committee reached consensus on a proposed framework for new rules.

The department said the rules would increase transparency and fairness, reduce political bias, lower barriers for new accreditors, ease credit transfers, emphasize merit and student outcomes, protect academic freedom and intellectual diversity, reduce accreditation costs for institutions, and limit coordination between program accreditors and related trade associations.

Under Secretary of Education Nicholas Kent said the administration had been charged with carrying out higher education reforms and that he was confident the changes would benefit students and taxpayers.

The department plans to publish and finalize the regulations by November. Legal challenges are expected before the rules are set to take effect in July 2027.
South Carolina

Novant Health buys Hilton Head site for $4.3M

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Novant Health bought the former Modern Classic Motors site on Hilton Head Island for $4.3 million, according to a Wednesday news release from the health system.

The property at 355 William Hilton Parkway spans more than 4.5 acres. The town bought the land in 2019, and Hilton Head Town Council approved its sale to Novant in December, according to the Town of Hilton Head Island.

Novant said it plans to build a 25,000-square-foot medical office building offering primary care, physical therapy and urology, along with 15,000 square feet of additional medical office space.

The health system said it expects to invest about $25.3 million in the project, including land acquisition, construction, equipment and technology. The development is expected to create about 50 jobs on Hilton Head Island, according to Novant.

An affordable and workforce housing development for health care workers is also under construction on the island.

Novant is also planning a new hospital and another medical center in Bluffton along Buckwalter Parkway, as well as a 17,000-square-foot medical complex in Beaufort.
North Carolina

Ex-county candidate charged in gaming probe

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A former Craven County commissioner candidate faces multiple criminal charges after a multijurisdictional investigation into illegal video gaming and gambling machines in Craven County.

Gregory Muse, 64, of New Bern, was charged Thursday after Alcohol Law Enforcement agents and local authorities executed search warrants at several locations, including properties tied to Muse in the James City area.

According to court documents, Muse was charged with felony operation of five or more video gaming machines, engaging in a continuing criminal enterprise, operating or possessing slot machines, manufacturing or selling slot machines, and operating video gaming machines.

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One warrant said Muse admitted ownership and demonstrated “care/custody/control” of the machines during an interview with agents on Dec. 16, 2024.

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North Carolina

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North Carolina

Emerald Isle approves fire station, buys future site

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At its May 12 meeting, the Board of Commissioners approved construction of a new Fire Station 2. The facility will replace the current station on Emerald Drive and serve eastern and central Emerald Isle.

Town officials said the station will have more than 6,600 square feet, three vehicle bays, larger living areas, and individual bunk rooms for firefighters and emergency medical services staff.

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Businessman Greg Lindberg, 56, of Tampa, Florida, was sentenced to 12 years in federal prison in a North Carolina insurance fraud and bribery case.

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According to court documents, Lindberg and his co-conspirators concealed the financial condition of insurance companies he controlled and improperly used company funds for personal gain. Prosecutors said companies linked to Lindberg invested more than $2 billion in loans and securities tied to his affiliated businesses in North Carolina, Bermuda, Malta, and elsewhere.

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Lindberg pleaded guilty in November 2024 to conspiracy to commit offenses against the United States and conspiracy to commit money laundering. In May 2024, a federal jury convicted him on bribery and honest services wire fraud conspiracy charges.
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North Carolina officials certified a new state-record graysby grouper caught by Wyatt Rabon of Leland.

The Division of Marine Fisheries said Rabon landed the 3-pound, 8-ounce fish May 16 while fishing about 45 miles offshore of Southport. The catch surpassed the previous state record, set in 2022, by just under half a pound.

State officials said the fish also unofficially tied the current International Game Fish Association all-tackle world record for graysby grouper, which was caught off South Carolina in 2023.

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State leaders, aquarium officials, community partners, and donors gathered to mark the start of construction on the multi-year project.

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South Carolina

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Republican candidates for South Carolina attorney general traded accusations during a debate Wednesday night, while largely agreeing on policy and differing most clearly on medical marijuana.

Sen. Stephen Goldfinch and 1st Circuit Solicitor David Pascoe exchanged repeated attacks during the hourlong SCETV debate. 8th Circuit Solicitor David Stumbo did not engage in the back-and-forth.

Pascoe, who switched to the Republican Party last year after two decades as a Democratic solicitor, questioned Goldfinch’s prosecutorial experience. Goldfinch accused Pascoe of maintaining close ties to Democratic trial lawyers, including former South Carolina Democratic Party chairman and Sen. Dick Harpootlian.

Pascoe highlighted his role in expanding and prosecuting a Statehouse corruption investigation that led to charges against a Republican political operative and six GOP legislators. Goldfinch raised $325,000 in restitution payments Pascoe’s office received from five businesses and state agencies during that investigation, an arrangement the South Carolina Supreme Court questioned in 2020. Pascoe said he was required to accept the money and returned it to the state for other ethics investigations.

Pascoe repeatedly referred to Goldfinch as “stem cell Steve,” citing a 2013 federal case involving an employee of a company Goldfinch owned. Goldfinch was never indicted, and the case was dismissed in 2017, according to court records.

“He has no prosecutorial experience other than when he was indicted for harvesting stem cells,” Pascoe said. “He is not qualified to be attorney general.”

Goldfinch did not directly address those claims during the debate. He defended his experience as a military attorney and repeatedly accused Pascoe of lying. Pascoe responded by calling Goldfinch a “RINO,” or Republican in name only.

All three candidates said they would move quickly to retry Alex Murdaugh after the South Carolina Supreme Court overturned his murder convictions this month because of what the justices called “shocking jury interference” by the court clerk.

They also agreed on stricter enforcement against people in the country illegally, resisting what they described as federal overreach, limiting referrals to private law firms, and changing South Carolina’s judicial selection process.

Medical marijuana produced the clearest disagreement. Pascoe said it helps some patients and welcomed the U.S. Justice Department’s move to reschedule cannabis. Stumbo said, “I believe the medical marijuana bill now is just a Trojan horse for recreational use, and I oppose it.” Goldfinch, who voted for medical marijuana legislation in 2022 and 2024, did not give a yes-or-no answer, saying unregulated hemp-derived THC products are already widespread.
Hawaii

Man charged in seal case barred from Hawaii beaches

If convicted, he faces up to one year in prison on each count, supervised release, fines under each statute, and special assessments.

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A 38-year-old Washington man accused of throwing a large rock at an endangered Hawaiian monk seal in Lahaina was barred from Hawaii beaches before trial after pleading not guilty Wednesday to two federal misdemeanor charges.

U.S. Magistrate Judge Rom A. Trader released Igor Mykhaylovych Lytvynchuk on a $25,000 unsecured bond and restricted his travel to Oahu and Washington state. Trader also ordered that Lytvynchuk is “not permitted to access or frequent any beaches, nor shall you approach or attempt to approach any marine wildlife, while in the District of Hawaii.”

Lytvynchuk surrendered his passport after his arrest outside Seattle on May 13. His next court appearance, a status conference, is scheduled for June 9. He may appear by video at future hearings, Trader said.

Federal prosecutors charged Lytvynchuk by information Tuesday with violating the Endangered Species Act and the Marine Mammal Protection Act, both Class A misdemeanors.

According to a federal affidavit, witness video recorded shortly after 10:30 a.m. May 5 showed Lytvynchuk holding a large rock and “aiming and throwing it directly at the monk seal.” The rock landed in the water and “narrowly missing the seal’s head,” according to court records, causing the animal to change direction.

The affidavit said that after witnesses told Lytvynchuk law enforcement had been called, he said he did not care because he was “rich enough to pay the fines.” Authorities said he was vacationing in Lahaina and declined to speak with officers.

Through his attorney, Sean P. Fitzsimmons, Lytvynchuk has said he did not intend to harm the seal and did not know Hawaiian monk seals are endangered.

National Oceanic and Atmospheric Administration Fisheries said Hawaiian monk seals are protected under federal and Hawaii law. The agency estimates there are about 1,600 monk seals, found only in the Hawaiian archipelago.

No state charges had been filed in connection with the incident as of Wednesday.