Seoul: South Korea on Friday repatriated the remains of 30 Chinese troops who were killed while fighting alongside North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War to their home country, the defense ministry said. The remains, along with 267 pieces of their belongings, were handed over to China's veteran affairs officials at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, according to the ministry.

According to Yonhap News Agency, since 2014, South Korea has returned a total of 1,011 sets of remains belonging to Chinese troops, including the latest ones, after they were discovered during the ministry's project to excavate the remains of fallen South Korean troops of the conflict. This year, the ministry skipped a ceremony commemorating the repatriation of the remains of Chinese soldiers for the second consecutive year, given that China fought alongside North Korea during the Korean War against South Korea and U.N. troops.

The move also came as China is believed to have highlighted the remains repatriation as "heroes' return" for a propaganda purpose. "We expect the repatriation will contribute to strengthen friendly cooperative relations between South Korea and China," the defense ministry said.