In what could be a moving gesture by a once war enemy, South Korea on Friday repatriated the remains of Chinese soldiers killed in the Korean War.

The caskets and belongings of the 437 fallen soldiers were handed to a Chinese delegation at an airport ceremony in Seoul.  It proved to be more than a peace symbol as it also signified the deepening bilateral ties between the two countries.

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The Chinese plane bearing the caskets landed at Shanyang airport at 9:20 am on Friday.

"This is a milestone in bilateral relations and is expected to serve as a good example of promoting peace in Northeast Asia," said Kim Min Seokof, spokesman of South Korea's Defense Ministry.

He said Seoul and Beijing worked closely to prepare the remains for repatriation, a three-month process which involved cleaning, drying, identifying and registering the remains.

The exhumation, which involved over 14,000 technical staff, began in December after the two countries had agreed on the repatriation proceedings.

The remains were mainly dug out from battlefronts in the South Korean province of Gangwon in the northeast region, the scene of heavy fighting during the war.

The Korean War broke out in June 1950 and lasted until July 1953.  

It was a war that resulted from the division of the Korean peninsula into north and south, as agreed upon by the victorious allied forces at the end of World War II.

The communist North Korea had the backing of China and the Soviet Union, while democratic South Korea became a strong ally of the United States.

Thousands of Chinese People's Volunteers (CPV) perished in the Korean war before it ended in a truce in 1953.