简体中文
Flag-wrapped coffins containing the remains of nearly 150 South Koreans killed in the Korean War were flown back to Seoul. /AFP
In the largest repatriation of South Korean soldiers'remains from the Korean War, nearly 150 such remains were sent back to their homeland on Wednesday, Seoul's defense ministry said, a day before the 70th anniversary of the beginning of the conflict.
The Korean War erupted on June25, 1950, and ended on 27 July 1953, leaving millions dead.
Some 147 sets of remains were flown on a South Korean military aircraft from Hawaii, where they were previously sent by the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) following their discovery over the past three decades.
Their remains were returned to South Korea following an honor ceremony Tuesday at Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam in Hawaii, and the plane was escorted into the country Wednesday by six fighter jets after a 70 year detour.
These white coffins were individually wrapped in South Korean flags occupying seats on the plane.
Some of the remains were recovered during excavations by the DPRK between 1990 and 1994, while others were sent by Pyongyang following a Singapore summit between leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump in 2018, according to Seoul's defense ministry.
The remains were classified as South Koreans through joint U.S.-South Korea forensic reviews in Hawaii, but only seven soldiers have been identified and authorities will carry out further checks to try to name the others.
The known seven will be awarded service medals at a ceremony Thursday, along with six sets of remains from identified Americans which the South Korean teams have recovered.
It's the fourth batch of South Korean soldiers'remains repatriations and brings the total to 239.
The Pearl Harbor-Hickam ceremony will be followed by a June 25 repatriation ceremony in South Korea's capital of Seoul, hosted by President Moon Jae-in
South Korea will also turn over six sets of U.S. remains to the United Nations Command.
(With input from AFP)
