After 65 years, Australia and the US military are on the cusp of signing a deal that could potentially bring closure for some of the families of Australian soldiers missing in action in the Korean War.
Under the agreement, the two countries will exchange relevant information and records relating to the 43 lost Australian servicemen.
"We recognise the desire of families of servicemen missing in action in the Korean War that Australian and US authorities should continue full co-operation so that remains that may be Australian may be identified as expeditiously as possible," a draft of the agreement obtained by AAP says.
Ian Saunders, whose father Private John Phillip Saunders was one of the 43 Australians, has uncovered evidence from the Australian and US military records from 1950-1955 revealing the locations of 1700 unidentified remains.
The remains are located above and below ground on Hawaiian soil and at the United Nations Military Cemetery Busan, South Korea.
Mr Saunders blamed maladministration and a lack of communication between Australia and US military post-1953 to 2009, and said documented evidence had been ignored.
"The story is one word - closure. We have had closure for 146 men at Fromelles (France World War I) to date, six in Vietnam, thousands at New Guinea (World War II) but not a single soul from the Korean War," Mr Saunders told AAP.
"This is the first step forward in doing something in 65 years."
Among the missing Australians is Private Lionel John 'Bomber' Terry who served in the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment.
He was 22 when he went missing, according to the Australian War Memorial.
On the night of January 24-25, 1953, he was on a patrol with 18 Australians who went to the assistance of a neighbouring patrol encircled by the enemy.
During the ensuing firefight he was wounded but kept going.
He was last seen fighting a group of up to 20 Chinese soldiers and had charged them with grenades and gunfire, which stopped the enemy advance.
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