Questions remain over body remains found in Sockcho, Gangwon Province, last week. They were first thought to belong to fallen soldiers of the Korean War (1950-1953), but the defense ministry said they are unrelated according to inspections.
Five sets of bones were unearthed on Thursday, in a parking lot construction site of a restaurant in nearby Yeongnang Lake in Sokcho. Bones appearing to belong to 16 individuals were collected two days afterward.
Based on the age of a tree under which the remains were found, police believed they may have been there for 50 to 60 years and raised the possibility that they could be the remains of war dead.
However, the defense ministry’s team in charge of identification of the war dead cited no combat equipment such as helmets or canteens found with the remains. Neither are there records that a battle had taken place in the area.
There are presumptions that the area in which the remains were found was previously a public burial ground, based on the defense ministry team’s opinion and the local culture center’s records, as well as resident testimonies, according to Yonhap News Agency.
However, the discovered remains were not found entirely intact, and the defense ministry’s team said it appears they were moved to the site from a different place.
A local resident told Yonhap a school was built nearby at a site which was originally a public burial ground, and that the buried remains were taken to a different burial site.
Sokcho Cultural Center confirmed there had been a surprise attack by North Korea’s air force on Sokcho port in 1953, and five dock workers died and were buried near Yeongnang Lake.
The site was later expanded into an official public burial ground and used for 30 years.
The burial ground, however, was removed and taken to a new ground in Goseong, north of Sokcho, in 1990 due to a project to develop Yeongnang Lake.
Presumptions are that the discovered remains were left at the original burial ground site.
Possibilities have also been raised that the remains could belong to victims of a tsunami that hit the area in the 1960s.
There are records that Sokcho suffered the greatest tsunami damage in October 1968 _ hundreds of houses were flooded, thousands lost their homes and several dozens of fisherman died or went missing.
The remains are set to be inspected by the National Forensic Service.