S. Korea returns 10 remains of Chinese soldiers killed in Korean War

A transfer ceremony is held at the Incheon International Airport to hand over the remains of 10 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the war. (Photo: China News Service/Zeng Nai)

South Korea on Wednesday returned 10 more remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-1953 Korean War.

The transfer ceremony was held at the Incheon International Airport in Incheon, west of the capital Seoul, to hand over the remains of 10 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the war.

During the ceremony, South Korean troops handed over the coffins, covered by China's national flag, to Chinese soldiers who carried them into an airplane.

It marked the sixth hand-over ceremony. South Korea had transferred the remains of 589 Chinese volunteer soldiers killed in the Korean War, including 437 in 2014, 68 in 2015, 36 in 2016, 28 in 2017 and 20 in 2018 each.

China and South Korea have consulted every year on the hand-over of the Chinese soldiers' remains found in South Korea. The transfer has been usually made days before Tomb-sweeping Day, the Chinese holiday for commemorating the dead, in early April.

The South Korean defense ministry said in a statement that the transfer ceremony was a part of efforts to heal the scar of the war and conveyed the message of peace to enhance regional peace and stability.

The ministry vowed to maintain cooperative relations with its Chinese counterpart and continue the transfer of the Chinese soldiers' remains for the development of the bilateral relations.

The Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) fought alongside the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) army in the Korean War against the South Korean army and the United States-led UN forces between 1950 and 1953.