The Korea Herald

피터빈트

S. Korea to return remains of 25 Chinese troops killed in Korean War

By Yonhap

Published : Nov. 17, 2023 - 09:48

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Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong drapes a Chinese flag over a box containing the remains of a Chinese soldier killed in the 1950-53 Korean War at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on April 3, 2019. (Yonhap) Chinese Ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong drapes a Chinese flag over a box containing the remains of a Chinese soldier killed in the 1950-53 Korean War at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, on April 3, 2019. (Yonhap)

The remains of 25 Chinese troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War will be sent to their home country next week, the defense ministry said Friday, marking the tenth repatriation of its kind.

A ceremony for the handover of the remains will take place at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, next Thursday, jointly organized by the ministry and China's veterans affairs ministry.

South Korea has so far returned 913 sets of remains of Chinese troops killed during the war since the two countries agreed on the repatriation project in 2014.

"The Ministry of National Defense will continue to repatriate the remains of Chinese troops excavated in South Korea as part of humanitarian efforts and friendly cooperation between South Korea and China," the ministry said in a release.

China and the Soviet Union supported Pyongyang during the war, which began with North Korea's invasion of South Korea. The conflict ended with an armistice, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas still technically at war. (Yonhap)