China buries remains of Korean war veterans

By Riyaz ul Khaliq

ANKARA (AA) – China on Friday buried the remains of at least 109 Chinese soldiers who died during the Korean War of the early 1950s.

The remains were returned in caskets by South Korea on Thursday, Chinese state-run Xinhua News reported.

The burial ceremony was held at the Chinese People's Volunteers martyrs’ cemetery in Shenyang, the capital of northeast China's Liaoning province.

A traditional parade and escort by Chinese soldiers was held during the ceremony.

It was in 2019 and 2020 that the remains and 1,226 other related remnants were excavated from six different regions in South Korea.

The countries have signed an agreement to hand over the remains of the fallen soldiers to Beijing.

A Chinese Air Force plane carrying the remains escorted by two Chinese fighter jets landed at Taoxian International Airport in Shenyang.

Before flying to China, a repatriation ceremony was held at the Incheon International Airport, west of the South Korean capital Seoul.

Earlier, South Korea returned the remains of 716 Chinese soldiers.

The soldiers participated in the Korean War of 1950-1953.

China sided with North Korea against the US and South Korea during the war, in which some 300,000 Chinese soldiers took part.

​​​​​​​The war ended end in an armistice on July 27, 1953, and there has never been a peace treaty between the divided Koreas.​​​​​​​