Remains return is positive sign

The remains of more than 400 Chinese soldiers killed during the Korean War (1950-53) will return home from the Republic of Korea on March 28 for permanent burial at a State cemetery in the Northeastern city of Shenyang, more than 60 years after the armistice agreement was signed bringing a ceasefire to the conflict.

The transfer of the remains highlights the friendly ties between the two former combatants and shows that they are looking to the future without harboring grudges against each other. It is an act based on humanitarian grounds that transcends the wartime friend-or-foe division.

The ROK built the "cemetery for enemies" in the border city of Paju in 1996 as a final resting place for fallen soldiers from the Democratic People's Republic of Korea and China. The offer to return the remains was first made by ROK President Park Geun-hye when she visited China in June last year as a goodwill gesture. The two sides finalized the transfer in December, agreeing to bring the remains of the 437 Chinese soldiers buried at the cemetery back to China before the traditional Tomb Sweeping Day in early April.