ROK returns remains of 25 Chinese soldiers

The remains of 25 Chinese soldiers who died during the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea (1950-53) were brought back to their motherland on Thursday and are scheduled to be buried at a martyrs' cemetery in Shenyang on Friday.

The remains and belongings of the fallen fighters were delivered from Incheon, Republic of Korea, by a Y-20 strategic transport plane of the People's Liberation Army Air Force to Shenyang, capital of Liaoning province, on Thursday morning.

As soon as the Y-20 entered China's airspace, two J-20 stealth fighter jets formed an escort to honor the fallen warriors.

After the transport aircraft landed at the Shenyang Taoxian International Airport, PLA soldiers carried the caskets, each covered by a Chinese flag, out of the plane and placed them on shelves in front of hundreds of government officials, military personnel and representatives of the public for a brief remembrance ritual.

After the ceremony, the caskets were transported by PLA trucks and escorted by a police motorcade to the Chinese People's Volunteer Army Martyrs' Cemetery in Shenyang. A large number of Shenyang residents stood along the route, holding flowers and national flags to show respect.

A burial ceremony is scheduled to take place on Friday morning in the cemetery.

Earlier on Thursday morning, a handover ceremony for the remains was held at the Incheon International Airport.

Clad in ceremonial uniforms, PLA honor guards received caskets containing the remains from their ROK counterparts. Xing Haiming, China's ambassador to the ROK, placed Chinese flags on each of the caskets. Members of a Chinese delegation for the handover bowed deeply in front of the caskets to show their respect.

The occasion marked the 10th consecutive year of the handover of Chinese soldiers' remains between the two nations. As of Thursday, the ROK has returned the remains of 938 Chinese soldiers.

Led by Peng Dehuai, commander-in-chief of the Chinese People's Volunteers army, 2.9 million Chinese soldiers fought in the War to Resist US Aggression and Aid Korea, which is also known as the Korean War. More than 197,000 Chinese soldiers and civilians recruited by the CPV died in the conflict between the ROK and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The ROK began recovering the remains of the fallen soldiers in 2000.