South korea: South Korea on Wednesday initiated this year's project to excavate the remains of soldiers from the Korean War at a significant former battlefield within the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that separates the two Koreas, as reported by the defense ministry.

According to Yonhap News Agency, the excavation effort at White Horse Ridge in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, was resumed last year after a three-year hiatus. This aligns with the Lee Jae Myung government's initiative to improve relations with North Korea. The site was a pivotal battlefield during the Korean War, and many Korean soldiers who died or went missing are believed to be interred there.

The project involves a task force from the 5th Infantry Division and an agency under the defense ministry. This team, consisting of soldiers and experts, is tasked with removing land mines and establishing a safe path for the excavation of remains. To date, the military has recovered 92 sets of remains from White Horse Ridge during the 2021-22 period.

The defense ministry stated that it is working closely with the United Nations Command on the retrieval work and is committed to returning any discovered remains to their families. The current project is an extension of an earlier military tension reduction agreement signed by Seoul and Pyongyang in 2018. This initiative was suspended during the previous Yoon Suk Yeol administration due to safety concerns stemming from strained inter-Korean relations.

In 2019, South Korea began a similar project at Arrowhead Ridge, another former battlefield in the DMZ, and subsequently expanded these efforts to include White Horse Ridge.