ROK to return remains of war heroes

Chinese soldiers to be flown home 70 years after passing on foreign soil

The remains of 88 Chinese soldiers who died during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53) are scheduled to be repatriated to their motherland on Friday, according to the Ministry of Veterans Affairs.

The ministry said in a news release on Thursday that the remains and items belonging to the fallen soldiers were placed into cinerary caskets at a ceremony that morning in Incheon in the Republic of Korea and will be delivered the next day to a Chinese delegation before being transported back to China the same day.

The occasion will mark the ninth consecutive year of the handover of Chinese soldiers' remains between the two nations. The ROK has returned the remains of 825 Chinese soldiers since 2014.

A Y-20 strategic transport plane of the People's Liberation Army Air Force arrived in Incheon on Wednesday and will carry the remains back on Friday. It will become the third time for the Y-20, the best transport jet deployed by the PLA Air Force, to be used to conduct the ceremonial task.

Senior Colonel Shen Jinke, spokesman for the PLA Air Force, said on Wednesday that as soon as the Y-20 enters the Chinese territorial airspace, a team of J-20 stealth fighter jets will escort the transport plane to show respect and remembrance.

The J-20 is the top combat aircraft in the PLA Air Force and the world's third stealth fighter jet to have entered service.

This will mark the first time for the J-20 to take part in such an operation, which has become a routine occasion for China to commemorate fallen soldiers in the first war of New China.

Led by Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Volunteers army, a total of 2.9 million Chinese soldiers fought in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea. More than 197,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians recruited by the CPV died in combat.

The ROK began recovering the remains of the fallen soldiers in 2000. A special unit was established by the nation's army in 2003 to take charge of the recovery.

The remains have been buried at the CPV Martyrs' Cemetery in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province.

Each time the remains have been sent back and buried, the Chinese government organized grand ceremonies at the airport and cemetery, showing respect to the fallen heroes. Family members and war veterans are invited to take part.

Local veterans affairs departments in China have been working to identify the fallen soldiers returned from the ROK, and continue to try to find and contact their relatives.

This year marks the 30th anniversary of the establishment of diplomatic relations between China and the ROK.