Remains of 20 Chinese soldiers in Korean War returned

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South Korea returned the remains of 20 Chinese People's Volunteer (CPV) soldiers who were killed during the 1950-1953 Korean War on Wednesday morning.

A handover ceremony of the caskets, covered with the Chinese national flag, was held at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, at 10 a.m. local time.

Over 197,000 CPV soldiers were believed to have perished in the war, with most buried on the Korean Peninsula.

The remains of 20 CPV soldiers return to China via a Chinese Air Force plane from Incheon Airport in S. Korea on Wednesday. /CGTN Photo

The remains were washed, dried and placed in coffins in South Korea before being returned to China. Scientists often fail to put a name of these fallen soldiers, even though they try to identify them by analyzing their uniforms or ammunition.

A funeral service was held on Wednesday morning for these 20 soldiers who died in the Korean War. Because their identities were unknown, veterans at the ceremony can only regard them as their comrades-in-arms. And China is expecting to receive more of these fallen comrades home.

Xu Li, the supervisor of the cemetery told CGTN they have prepared over 1,200 plots for burials as more remains of volunteer soldiers who served in the Korean War will be returned to China on a yearly basis. /CGTN Photo‍

"More remains of volunteer soldiers who served in the Korean War will be returned to China on a yearly basis. We have prepared over 1,200 plots for future burials." Said Xu Li, the supervisor of the cemetery.

It marks the fifth batch of remains returned since 2014. According to Yonhap, the total number of Chinese remains repatriated has reached 589 since a 2013 agreement.

Chinese vice minister of civil affairs Gao Xiaobing and Chinese ambassador to South Korea Qiu Guohong also attended the ceremony.

Qingming Festival, also known as "Tomb-Sweeping Day," falls on April 5 this year.

(CGTN's Guan Yang also contributed to the story.)

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