The remains of Chinese soldiers who were killed during the Korean War (1950-1953) will be sent to their home country 61 years after the end of hostilities.

President Park Geun-hye proposed to send back the remains of Chinese soldiers to China at the Korea-China summit with Chinese President Xi Jinping during her state visit to China last July.

As the first step of repatriation, a coffin ceremony was held on March 17 at a cemetery in Jeokseong-myeon, Paju-si (city), Gyeonggi-do (Gyeonggi Province).


The coffin ceremony was led by the Korean Ministry of Defense. The ceremony was composed of four parts: excavation, cleaning and drying of the remains, detailed identification of the soldier and, finally, preparing each set of remains for transportation and reburial. The ceremony was attended by eight Chinese government officials, including Chinese government official Li Guiguan.

Li said he is deeply grateful to the Korean Defense Ministry for all the efforts it has gone to, as well as to related organizations and the excavation team members. He witnessed the coffin ceremony procedures and paid respect to the dead before excavation.


At first, the remains of 425 Chinese soldiers were to be sent back to China, but 12 additional bodies were identified during the identification process. So the remains of 437 Chinese soldiers will be repatriated to their home country on March 28 at a hand-over ceremony at Incheon International Airport.

Since 1997, Korea has been excavating the dead who were killed during the Korean War. During the excavation, the remains of Chinese soldiers were found. Seoul sent the remains of 40 Chinese soldiers to China through North Korea. The remains of nearly 400 Chinese soldiers, however, still lie in South Korea, as the North has refused to cooperate in any repatriation procedures. Under the humanitarianism of the Geneva Conventions, South Korea has created a cemetery in Paju City, Gyeonggi Province, for soldiers from China or North Korea.


A staffer at the Korean Ministry of National Defense said, “The repatriation of the remains of Chinese soldiers will serve as a new corner stone that will help develop Korea-China relations by healing the wounds of the past and healing the wounds of war.”

The Korean defense ministry plans to send any additional remains of Chinese soldiers that are found during excavation back to China on a yearly basis.

By Jeon Han, Yoon Sojung
Korea.net Staff Writers
hanjeon@korea.kr