S. Korea holds joint enshrinement ceremony for unidentified Korean War remains excavated in 2023

▲ Prime Minister Han Duck-soo (C) watches an honor guard of the Army carrying South Korean flag-draped boxes containing the excavated remains of unidentified South Korean soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War during a joint enshrinement ceremony at the National Cemetery in Seoul on Dec. 29, 2023. The government retrieved 214 sets of remains, belonging to South Korean soldiers killed in the conflict, from 35 locations nationwide this year, while 192 of the entire remains have yet to be identified. (Pool photo) (Yonhap)

war remains-joint ceremony

S. Korea holds joint enshrinement ceremony for unidentified Korean War remains excavated in 2023

SEOUL, Dec. 29 (Yonhap) -- South Korea on Friday held a joint enshrinement ceremony for the unidentified remains of 192 soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War, the defense ministry said.

The ceremony took place at the Seoul National Cemetery in southern Seoul, presided over by Prime Minister Han Duck-soo, according to the ministry.

The enshrined sets were among 214 sets of Korean War remains excavated this year at 35 former battle sites across the country, according to the ministry.

The ministry has identified 22 of them and returned them to their respective families. The unidentified remains will be kept at the ministry's Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification based in the national cemetery. KIA stands for killed in action.

Since the ministry launched the excavation project for Korean War remains in 2000, it has excavated some 11,000 sets of remains and confirmed the identities of 226 of them.

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