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Defense ministry sets goal to excavate 200 Korean War remains this year

Published: 09 Mar. 2026, 21:22

Military personnel take part in a project to retrieve the remains of soldiers killed in the Korean War near the heavily fortified Demilitarized Zone on Dec. 1, 2025. [YONHAP]

The defense ministry said Monday it aims to locate some 200 remains of Korean soldiers killed during the 1950-53 Korean War this year as part of its project to excavate the war remains.

The project, scheduled from March 9 to Nov. 27, will involve 30 Army units and the 1st Marine Division, mobilizing a total of 100,000 troops, according to the ministry.

This year, the agency in charge of recovery and identification of the fallen soldiers has set the goal to excavate 200 remains, up 42 percent from last year, when officials discovered 141 remains.

The excavation project will mainly take place in 22 cities and counties, including the border city and county of Paju and Yeoncheon, that were at the center of combat during the Korean War.

The ministry will also continue international cooperation in joint excavation efforts and repatriation of the remains of troops, including with Australia and the United States.

A goal of collecting 10,000 gene samples from the bereaved family members and verifying the identities of 20 soldiers killed in action has also been set by authorities this year.

Since the project's launch in 2000, the ministry has excavated 11,488 remains and confirmed the identities of 270 of them. Nearly 90 percent of the 133,192 soldiers still remain buried and are yet to be found, according to the ministry.

Yonhap