THE remains of 117 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War were returned to China yesterday from the Republic of Korea (ROK).

Escorted by two Chinese fighter jets, an air force plane carrying the remains and belongings of the fallen soldiers landed at the Taoxian international airport in Shenyang, capital of Northeast China’s Liaoning Province, at 11:18 a.m.

It was the seventh repatriation ceremony. In the previous six repatriations, South Korea had returned the remains of 599 Chinese People’s Volunteers martyrs killed in the Korean War, including 437 in 2014, 68 in 2015, 36 in 2016, 28 in 2017, 20 in 2018 and 10 in 2019 each.

The remains were casketed in the ROK on Saturday at a ceremony held at a provisional morgue of the 17th army division of the ROK in Incheon, west of the capital Seoul.

Personal seals of three martyrs — Ma Shixian, Lin Shuishi and Ding Zuxi — were found in the belongings, providing clues for confirming the identities of the heroes and finding their relatives.

The remains will be buried in a martyrs’ cemetery in Shenyang, with a burial ceremony due to be held today.

In 2014, South Korea agreed with China to repatriate the remains of fallen Chinese soldiers according to international law and humanitarian spirit, the Seoul defense ministry said.

China and South Korea have consulted every year on the repatriation of the Chinese soldiers’ remains found in South Korea.

The Chinese People’s Volunteers fought with the army of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea in the Korean War against the ROK army and U.S.-led U.N. forces between 1950 and 1953.

(Xinhua)