A set of 117 remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War is casketed in Inchon, South Korea, on Saturday to be sent back to their homeland. The repatriation ceremony is scheduled on Sunday. Photo: VCG

 

China repatriated the remains of 117 Chinese soldiers from South Korea killed in the Korean War (1950-53) on Sunday, dispatching the domestically developed Y-20 transport aircraft to carry out the task for the first time.

The repatriation ceremony of the seventh batch of remains of Chinese People's Volunteers' (CPV) Army martyrs and related relics took place on Sunday morning at South Korea's Incheon International Airport, after which honor guards of the Chinese People's Liberation Army escorted them to a PLA Air Force aircraft for return to China, Chinese media reported on Sunday.

This is the first time China has sent a Y-20 transport aircraft to repatriate CPV martyrs' remains, China Central Television reported on Sunday, noting that the serial number "01" on the aircraft is an indication of the highest respect to the martyrs.

Chinese soldiers carry to a plane coffins containing remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War during a repatriation ceremony at Incheon International Airport in Incheon, the Republic of Korea (ROK), Sept. 27, 2020. The remains of 117 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War were returned to China on Sunday from the ROK. It is the seventh such repatriation following a handover agreement signed by the two countries. (Xinhua/Wang Jingqiang)

This year marks the 70th anniversary of the CPV's participation in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea.

On October 19, 1950, at the request of North Korea, the CPV crossed the Yalu River, the border between China and North Korea, to battle the US-led UN forces in North Korea. Chinese forces drove the US back to the 38th Parallel at the cost of at least 190,000 Chinese lives.

China and South Korea have successfully completed the handover of the remains of 599 CPV martyrs for six consecutive years from 2014 to 2019, the Beijing Youth Daily reported.

On September 19, a Memorial Hall of the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea in border city Dandong, Northeast China's Liaoning Province, had been reopened after renovation. 

Global Times