Wreath for Chinese laid in Pyongyang at 50th anniversary of Korean armistice

BEIJING (AFP) Jul 27, 2003
Leaders of the Workers' Party of Korea and Korean People's Army in Pyongyang laid a wreath Sunday in honor of the Chinese soldiers who fought alongside North Korea during the 1950-53 Korean War, state media reported.

A ceremony to mark the Chinese contribution to the war, held on the 50th anniversary of the armistice agreement that silenced the guns on the Korean peninsula July 27, 1953, was attended by top officials from the Workers' Party and the People's Assembly, Xinhua said.

An estimated 900,000 Chinese were killed or wounded in battles that pitted North Korea, backed by communist China, against the South, which was supported by a US-led coalition under the approval of the United Nations.

Veterans from 16 nations gathered Sunday on the last Cold War frontier in the Korean truce village of Panmunjom to mark the 50th anniversary of the armistice agreement, although hostilities remain on the Korean peninsula.

WAR.WIRE