South Korea and China on Wednesday held a ceremony to casket the remains of 109 Chinese soldiers killed in the 1950-53 Korean War for their return to the homeland this week, the defense ministry said.

The ceremony took place at an Army base in the western city of Incheon ahead of the repatriation of the remains -- discovered from former battle sites last year -- to China on Thursday, according to the ministry.

The repatriation will be the eighth of its kind since Seoul pledged in 2014 to repatriate the remains of fallen Chinese soldiers killed during the three-year conflict, leading to the return of 716 sets as of last year.

During the war, China fought alongside North Korea against the US-backed Allied forces. Nearly 1 million Chinese soldiers are believed to have died, been wounded or remain missing, according to Seoul government data.

Thursday's repatriation ceremony will be held at Incheon International Airport, west of Seoul, attended by Vice Defense Minister Park Jae-min, the ministry said. (Yonhap)