SEOUL AIR BASE, South Korea — The United States and South Korea exchanged the remains of service members killed during the Korean War on Friday — the first reciprocal repatriation ceremony between the allies in their decades-long effort to account for those still missing from the conflict.

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung presided over the ceremony at Seoul Air Base, where the remains of 10 South Korean troops were returned from Hawaii while three sets of remains presumed to be American were sent to Honolulu for further identification and eventual return to their families.

“Thanks to their noble sacrifices, we secured our freedom and peace,” Lee told those gathered at the ceremony.

“It is the historical responsibility of the living to return them home,” he added. “Today’s repatriation is a milestone that deepens and strengthens the South Korea-U.S. alliance that is built on the blood and dedication of veterans.”

Lee honored the unidentified South Korean remains with symbolic “unknown soldier” dog tags and presented Arirang scarves for the U.S. service members. The scarves are reproductions of one sent by an American soldier fighting in Korea to his mother in 1952.

Army Gen. Xavier Brunson, commander of U.S. Forces Korea, said the mission to recover and identify missing service members remains unfinished.

“We do not leave our fallen behind,” he said in his remarks. “The United States and [South Korea] will continue this mission until every single missing in action is accounted for.

“To these 13 brave souls, your watch is over. May you rest in eternal peace.”

South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back echoed that message.

“Our footsteps will never stop until the day we can bring every last hero back to their homeland,” he said.

The remains will undergo additional identification procedures by MAKRI — the Ministry of National Defense Agency for KIA Recovery and Identification — and the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, according to South Korea’s presidential office.

The Defense Ministry said in May that two of the three presumed American remains were recovered in Gangwon province in 2010 and 2021 and are believed to be connected to soldiers assigned to the 2nd Infantry Division. A third set, recovered in Sejong in 2012, is believed to be linked to the 21st Regiment, 24th Infantry Division.

Lee Gyu-sang of MAKRI confirmed Friday that the three sets of presumed U.S. remains were repatriated during Friday’s ceremony.

Thousands of South Korean and American service members remain unaccounted for from the 1950-53 Korean War. Both countries continue recovery operations across the peninsula.

DPAA and MAKRI have a joint 10-member team conducting a nationwide search through June 26 for approximately 50 U.S. service members who remain missing from the war.