Radio Free Asia reports the U.S. Defense Department is planning to pay North Korea five-point-seven million dollars to cover costs needed to excavate the remains of U.S. soldiers from the Korean War.

The Washington-based broadcaster said Thursday that the U.S. and North Korea agreed in a meeting held in Bangkok last month to resume the excavation of the remains of U.S. soldiers next spring.

A Defense Department official told the RFA that the money will be spent for building excavation base camps, paying North Korean workers, renting cars and operating helicopters.

The official said that the amount of the money to be paid to North Korea is similar to the amount the U.S. paid Vietnam and Laos to excavate the remains of U.S. soldiers in those nations.

The excavation in North Korea is expected to last from the spring through the fall of 2012.