6•25전쟁 70주년…국군전사자 유해 하와이서 봉환

The remains of scores of South Korean troops killed during the Korean War are heading home and are to arrive later Wednesday afternoon from Hawaii... on the eve of the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the war.
Kim Ji-yeon reports.
A mix of pride, relief and gratitude as one-hundred-47 sets of South Korean soldiers' remains are finally returning home... some 70 years after the men left their homes to fight alongside allied forces in the Korean War.
This is the largest set of remains being repatriated from the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency to South Korea.
The remains had been among those brought to the U.S. after joint excavation work in North Korea from 1990 to 1994, and from the remains returned to the U.S. following the first summit between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump in Singapore in June 2018.
Through joint forensic reviews, South Korea and the U.S. identified 147 sets as those of South Koreans.
"It is overwhelming. I watched the honor guards move, it brought a chill and a tear in my eye, thinking of what we're doing. It is monumental historic in nature between our two countries... I am thrilled for your country. And those seven families can tell that those loved ones would be coming home (in two days)."
"It's been 70 years since the outbreak of the Korean War. Veterans are nearing 90 years of age. It is the nation's and soldiers' duty to honor and remember those who have sacrificed their lives for this country."
The remains are being carried on a KC-330 aerial tanker.
It's receiving an escort from six fighter jets upon entering the Korea air defense identification zone.
The remains will be welcomed home in an official ceremony held on Thursday.
Kim Ji-yeon, Arirang News.