The remains of 437 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War and repatriated from South Korea were reburied in northeast China yesterday.

The remains of 437 soldiers from the Chinese People’s Volunteer Army killed in the 1950-53 war were flown back from South Korea in March and reinterred yesterday. More than 800 veterans and relatives of the deceased attended the ceremony.

A ceremony was held at Martyrs' Park in Shenyang, capital of Liaoning Province. It was attended by the provincial governor Li Xi, along with veterans and relatives of the soldiers.

Li delivered an elegiac address, before 27 soldiers fired a salute to the deceased.

"It is comforting to see them back home and buried here," said Lu Shouhu, an 85-year-old veteran of the conflict.

Lu said he once dug a pit on the battlefield in which to bury a fallen comrade.

"I wonder if he's among those nameless martyrs," he said.

Cai Xiaodong, the son of Cai Zhengguo, a deputy commander in the Chinese People's Volunteer Army whose remains were repatriated, said he felt as if his father and his comrades had finally returned home.

"They will not be forgotten," he said.

The remains of the soldiers buried yesterday were formerly in a cemetery in Gyeonggi-do in South Korea. Their evacuation began in December last year and the coffins were flown back to China in March.

The Chinese People's Volunteer Army fought alongside North Korean troops in the Korean War against the South Korean army and United Nations forces led by the United States. Tens of thousands died on the Korean Peninsula during the conflict, which ended in an armistice in 1953.

To date, 197,653 Chinese people involved in the war have been recognized, including soldiers and workers who helped with the reconstruction of North Korea.



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