President Yoon Suk Yeol (left) pays his respects on July 26 with a moment of silence for soldiers killed during the Korean War at a ceremony for the repatriation of their remains held at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam, Gyeonggi-do Province.
By Park Hye Ri
Photos = Office of the President
President Yoon Suk Yeol presided over a repatriation ceremony held at Seoul Air Base in Seongnam of Gyeonggi-do Province, on July 26, marking the handover of the remains of seven soldiers who were killed in the 1950-53 Korean War.
This is the first time that President Yoon has personally organized a repatriation of remains ceremony since taking office. The Office of the President said “the event was planned as part of President Yoon’s determination to make Korea ‘a country that respects and remembers those who sacrificed for the nation and its people.'”
The repatriated remains were of those recovered by the U.S. military — and stored in Hawaii or repatriated to the U.S. — through joint excavations by the U.S. and North Korean military.
Vice Defense Minister Shin Beom-chul received the remains from the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency at Hickam Air Force Base in Hawaii on July 25 (local time) and repatriated them aboard a KC-330 tanker transport plane. Upon arrival, President Yoon greeted the fallen soldiers with the highest military honors, including the firing of a 21 gun state-level salute.
One of the seven has been identified as Pfc. Choi Im-rak, who was killed in the Battle of the Chosin Reservoir in December 1950.
President Yoon presided over the return of the remains with the bereaved family of Private Choi and presented them with a service medal upon his return home, after 73 years.
Prior to the ceremony, President Yoon met with the bereaved family, including Private Choi’s younger brother Choi Yong. “It’s been 73 years, but it’s meaningful to bring him back to his country,” said President Yoon, adding, “We prepared the ceremony to welcome the fallen with the best military ceremony.”
Soldiers unload the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War prior to a repatriation ceremony.
hrhr@korea.kr
