Over one million troops from the Chinese People's Volunteer Army were sent to the battlefields to aid the Democratic People's Republic of Korea during the Korean War. The war ended over half a century ago, but China still remembers the more than 180-thousand soldiers who gave up their lives. Our reporter Xu Xinchen spoke with one war veteran, who shared with us his and his comrades' heroic story.  

JING DONGHUI VETERAN OF PEOPLE'S VOLUNTEER ARMY "Our victory of today is given by thousands of revolutionary martyrs. We must inherit and defend peace."

84-year-old Jing Donghui, joined the Chinese Volunteer Army at a tender age of 17 to aid the DPRK during the Korean War. As a Korean ethnic minority born in northeast China, he serviced as a translator and has been through three major battles.

JING DONGHUI VETERAN OF PEOPLE'S VOLUNTEER ARMY "We marched over a hundred kilometers every day — extremely tired. Some would pass out and fall asleep alongside the road. Others would wake them up and continue the march."

Due to limited resources the Chinese Volunteer Army had at the time, they had to engage with close combats and fought with fists and knives.

JING DONGHUI VETERAN OF PEOPLE'S VOLUNTEER ARMY "Hills were covered with blood. The fighting was fierce. And we also lost many comrades."

Jing has witnessed close comrades die in front of his own eyes.

XU XINCHEN SHENYANG, LIAONING PROVINCE "During the Korean War, China deployed a total of over 1 million troops to aid the DPRK. The sacrifice was also huge — more than 180,000 Chinese volunteer soldiers were believed to have died during the war."

LYU CHAO DIR. OF KOREAN PENINSULA STUDIES, LIAONING ACADEMY OF SOCIAL SCIENCES "During the Korean War, the American Empire's invasion has reached over Yalu River, threatening Chinese people. In order to safeguard China's safety and to aid the DPRK, the Chinese People's Volunteer Army was sent in."

For our veteran, Jing, he has been paying close attention to the recent development between the DPRK and the US. He visited the DPRK twice in recent years, and he saw challenges the Chinese neighbor face caused by tensions with the US, but he also saw the hope that a peaceful solution could finally come. Xu Xinchen, CGTN, Shenyang, Liaoning Province.