1. The government of the Republic of Korea held the “7^th transfer ceremony for the remains of Chinese soldiers” to repatriate the remains of Chinese soldiers at the Incheon International Airport at 10 a.m., September 27, with Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs Choi Jong Kun and Vice Minister of Veterans Affairs of the People's Republic of China Chang Zhengguo attending as head delegates of the two countries, respectively. The transfer ceremony has been hosted conventionally by the Vice Minister of National Defense, but this year, the Vice Minister of Foreign Affairs hosted the event due to unavoidable personal circumstances.

2. The ROK and China agreed on the transfer of the remains of Chinese soldiers in the spirit of friendship and cooperation based on humanitarian principles in January 2014, and the ROK returned the remains of 599 Chinese soldiers through six transfer ceremonies.

3. At today’s event, the remains of 117 Chinese soldiers which the ROK military exhumed in 2019 (including 103 that were excavated from Arrowhead Hill in the Demilitarized Zone) were handed over to China.

4. In his remarks, Vice Minister Choi Jong Kun expressed hope that the ROK-China relations would further develop through the transfer of the remains, and asked for China’s support and cooperation to achieve tangible progress in implementing the peace process on the Korean Peninsula.

5. The ROK government will continue repatriating the remains of Chinese soldiers that are discovered, and continue efforts towards future-oriented development of bilateral relations.