The Defense Ministry has confirmed the identity of a second set of remains found earlier this year inside the demilitarized zone(DMZ) separating the two Koreas. 

The ministry on Wednesday said the remains belong to Sergeant First Class Namgoong Seon who was killed in 1953 during the Korean War. 

The remains were identified through a DNA sample gathered from his son at a military hospital in 2008.

The South Korean military has been conducting an excavation of war remains at Arrowhead Ridge inside the DMZ, the site of a notoriously bloody battle during the Korean War, since April. 

The two Koreas agreed last year to launch a joint excavation in the border zone, but the South began work by itself after the North refused to follow up.