1 of 4 | Soldiers take part in a war remains excavation project conducted from at White Horse Ridge in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, in this photo provided Monday by the South Korean Ministry of Defense. Photo courtesy of South Korea Ministry of Defense
South Korea’s military recovered the remains of 25 soldiers and nearly 2,000 artifacts during a recent excavation at White Horse Ridge, one of the Korean War’s fiercest battlegrounds, the Ministry of Defense said Monday.
The ministry announced it was resuming excavation work in October after a three-year hiatus as part of its efforts to lower military tensions in the border area.
The excavation took place from Oct. 15 to Nov. 28 in the Cheorwon area of Gangwon Province, a major battleground on the central front during the 1950-53 conflict. Approximately 100 South Korean troops participated alongside soldiers from United Nations Command member nations during the 40-day operation.
In addition to the 25 sets of remains, excavation teams recovered 1,962 personal items, the ministry said in a statement.
Initial field examinations suggest many of the remains belong to South Korean soldiers, though definitive identifications will require detailed forensic analysis and DNA testing.
“This is an effort to return the Korean War heroes to their families and homeland, and a practical measure to fulfill the government’s pledge to establish peace within the Demilitarized Zone,” the ministry said.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung has made efforts to rehabilitate relations between the two Koreas since he took office in June, with conciliatory gestures such as removing propaganda loudspeakers from border areas.
Lee has also said he would take “proactive and gradual steps” to restore the 2018 inter-Korean military pact that was suspended amid tensions between Seoul and Pyongyang during the administration of former President Yoon Suk Yeol in 2024.
The pact established buffer zones along the border and included measures such as the removal of some guard posts in the DMZ and the banning of live-fire exercises in certain areas.
In April 2018, Seoul and Pyongyang agreed to launch a joint project to retrieve remains of soldiers killed during the Korean War from Arrowhead Ridge, the site of one of the fiercest battles of the Korean War.
However, after the failed 2019 summit in Hanoi between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, the North refused to participate.
South Korea began excavation work alone on the site in 2019 and retrieved remains of some 424 soldiers. Seoul later expanded efforts to White Horse Ridge, where teams found the remains of 67 soldiers, but the project was suspended in 2022 amid deteriorating ties with the North.
