ROK to return soldiers' remains

China will receive the eighth batch of Chinese soldiers' remains from the Republic of Korea in September, the Chinese Ministry of Veterans Affairs said on Monday.

According to a decision made by officials from China and the ROK at a meeting in Beijing on Monday, a ceremony will be held in the ROK on Sept 2 for the handover of the remains.

The two sides also agreed to deepen their cooperation in joint search, excavation and identification of other remains, the Chinese ministry said in a news release.

Commanded by Peng Dehuai, a total of 2.9 million Chinese People's Volunteer Army soldiers fought in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53), and nearly 200,000 of them died in combat.

The ROK started in 2000 to recover remains of soldiers who died in the war. A special unit was established by the South Korean army in 2003 to take charge of the recovery.

China and the ROK have cooperated to move the remains of 716 Chinese soldiers since 2014, when the ROK started returning the remains of Chinese soldiers.

On Sept 27, 2020, the seventh such repatriation took place in Inchon in the ROK and the remains of 117 fallen soldiers were carried by a Y-20 strategic airlift aircraft, the Chinese Air Force's best transport plane, back to Shenyang.