[Yonhap Photo]
Amid a bitter diplomatic row fueled by the deployment of a US missile shield, South Korea showed a conciliatory gesture Wednesday with the repatriation of the remains of Chinese soldiers killed during an inter-Korean conflict more than six decades ago.
In a solemn ceremony at Incheon International Airport west of Seoul, South Korean honor guards turned over 28 boxes containing the remains to their Chinese counterparts, watched by military officials and diplomats from both sides.
Qiu Guohong, the Chinese ambassador to South Korea, personally covered each box with Chinese flags.
[Yonhap Photo
"China hopes the repatriation of the remains of Chinese soldiers will continue, based on sustainable friendship and cooperation with South Korea," said Sun Shaocheng, China's vice minister of civil affairs, who headed the Chinese delegation.
"This demonstrates mutual trust and consideration to overcome scars from the past wartime," Hwang In-moo, South Korea's Vice Defense Minister said. "Our government will continue to repatriate the remains of more Chinese soldiers."
The humanitarian project to repatriate the remains of Chinese soldiers excavated from the Korean War battlefields began in 2014 as a goodwill gesture to enhance relations between the two countries. So far South Korea has repatriated 541 sets of the remains.
[Yonhap Photo]
The installation of a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system has soured bilateral relations, but Seoul and Beijing agreed it should not affect the humanitarian project.
China fought alongside North Korea in the 1950-53 conflict. More than 180,000 Chinese soldiers are estimated to have died in the war.
Park Sae-jin = swatchsjp@ajunews.com
reporter
Park Sae-jin
swatchsjp@ajunews.com
