Aegibong: A bull that drifted south from North Korea during a major flood in 1996 and became a symbol of inter-Korean peace has been laid to rest on a border hill overlooking its homeland nearly 20 years after its death. The animal's remains were moved to an exhibition hall in Aegibong Peace Ecopark on Aegibong hill, just 1.4 kilometers from North Korea's border county of Kaepung, on Saturday, according to the Gimpo Cultural Foundation.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the bull, known as the "bull of peace," was first discovered by South Korean authorities on the uninhabited island of Yudo, off the western city of Gimpo, after surviving a deadly flood that swept through central parts of the Korean Peninsula. Due to the island's location inside neutral waters between the Koreas, South Korean Marines were deployed to rescue it in January the following year after authorization by the U.N. Command overseeing the armistice of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The bull suffered a broken ankle after stepping on a mine among those scattered across the heavily fortified border but later recovered after receiving treatment. In 1998, it was married to a cow from the southern island of Jeju in a wedding ceremony, and the pair went on to produce seven offspring before the bull died of natural causes in 2006 at the presumed age of 16.

Since its death, the bull's lineage has continued, with descendants over eight generations being raised on farms across South Korea, including Jeju and the western city of Incheon. Before their relocation to the border hill, the bull's remains had been stored in a culture center in Gimpo, an area that saw fierce fighting during the Korean War. The island where the bull was first found is visible from the exhibition hall housing its remains, which is now accessible to the public.

Prior to the relocation, a memorial ritual took place near Aegibong, expressing hopes for peace on the peninsula. Kang Kyung-ku, a former mayor of Gimpo, remarked, "Although the bull of peace, considered a symbol of the pain of division as well as peace, did not see the unification (of the Koreas), I hope it becomes a big star above Aegibong and a messenger of peace."