The South Korean military resumed an excavation project on Monday to locate the remains of four members of the former Silmido unit. The defense ministry plans to search three sites this year. An event was held at a cemetery in Goyang.
The South Korean military resumed an excavation project on Monday to locate the remains of four members of the former Silmido unit.
The defense ministry said the military plans to excavate three sites this year where the remains of four "Silmido" unit members are presumed to be buried. An event marking the resumption of the project was held at a cemetery in Goyang, just northwest of Seoul.
The so-called Unit 684, also known by the name of Silmido, was created in 1968. A total of 24 commandos were confined at the Silmido Island for over three years before they staged a mutiny and escaped in 1971. Of them, 20 were killed during a standoff, while four others were sentenced to death and secretly buried.
The remains of 20 commandos were later discovered, but the remains of the four others have yet to be found. In 2024, then Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun issued an apology. The government launched the excavation project the same year but failed to locate the missing remains.
