SEOUL -- North Korea agreed Wednesday to release the remains of a U.S. pilot who died when his helicopter went down in the communist country over the weekend. A second pilot who survived will be held while the government finishes investigating the incident, the North said.


The White House welcomed the agreement to repatriate the remains but said it had no concrete assurances the second pilot would be released.


North Korea agreed to return the remains during a meeting with U.S. officials at the Korean War truce village of Panmunjom, where the repatriation is to take place Thursday, U.S. military spokesman Jim Coles said.


Chief Warrant Officers Bobby Hall and David Hilemon were flying along the demilitarized zone that separates the two Koreas on Saturday when their U.S. Army OH-58C helicopter crossed into North Korean territory. The helicopter made an emergency landing or was shot down. Hilemon was killed and Hall was captured.


U.S. officials have speculated the pilots became disoriented because of heavy snow but the Japanese newspaper Yomiuri Shimbun reported that officials of North Korea's UN delegation called the intrusion "a surprise attack."


"It was not a matter of losing their way nor a technical accident," they said.


The Clinton administration has showed growing impatience with North Korea, warning that recent improvements in relations could be set back unless it quickly released the two pilots.