At noon on July 4, at the regular Government press conference in June 2026, Colonel Le Van Son - Deputy Director of the Department of Social Policy, General Department of Politics of the Vietnam People's Army, Deputy Chief of Office of the National Steering Committee for searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains - provided information about the implementation of the "Operation 500 days and nights searching, repatriating and identifying martyrs' remains".
According to Colonel Le Van Son, the campaign is comprehensive in order to create a breakthrough in the search, repatriation and identification of martyrs' remains, implemented on 5 main contents:
First, searching for and repatriating about 7,000 sets of martyrs' remains.
Second, complete the sampling of remains of unidentified martyrs in 230,000 graves at all martyrs' cemeteries nationwide.
Third, strive to examine about 18,000 samples of martyrs' remains.
Fourth, build, complete and put into operation a martyr's personal gene identification facility.
Fifth, complete the clearance of bombs and mines, explosives, focusing on the core area of Vi Xuyen (Tuyen Quang), Lao Cai and Lang Son.
As of July 4, the campaign has entered its 111th day and recorded many notable results.
To complete the search and repatriation objective, the Ministry of National Defense has assigned specific search and repatriation targets to units. At the same time, consolidate the repatriation teams, currently 32 teams with a force of more than 1,500 people.
A new point in the search method is that it has combined coordinate comparison on the map with the actual site, combining witness accounts with the use of modern equipment (underground scanning radar) to increase accuracy, shorten time, and reduce the volume of excavation and dismantling in the process of searching for martyrs' remains.
Regarding the organization of simultaneous sampling of martyrs' remains for graves with unidentified information in martyrs' cemeteries (out of a total of nearly 3,000 martyrs' cemeteries nationwide), it is required to be organized methodically, with strict and scientific procedures.
To minimize confusion and errors that may occur during the process of taking samples and handing over martyrs' remains samples, the Ministry of National Defense has assigned Viettel Group to build software to manage martyrs' remains sample information.
The software has the function of digitizing and storing all information during the sampling process to ensure that it can "trace" the samples taken, if there is a mistake in the handover and storage process. To date, there are over 300 martyr remains sampling teams with about 3,300 people.
Regarding specific results, Colonel Le Van Son said that so far, more than 1,300 sets of martyrs' remains and 3 mass graves have been searched and collected in Tuyen Quang.
Organized sampling of more than 27,000 martyrs' graves, of which nearly 20,000 graves are eligible for sampling; handed over more than 9,000 samples to DNA testing units.
Bomb and mine clearance on an area of more than 7,000 hectares, especially the core area of Vi Xuyen, Tuyen Quang more than 3,000 hectares, reached more than 70% of the progress. The Ministry of Public Security organized the collection of nearly 95,000 biological samples of relatives of martyrs, analyzed and synchronized into a database of more than 50,000 samples.
In the last 6 months of the year, the Ministry of National Defense advises the National Steering Committee on solutions to strive to achieve the goals of the campaign set out. Press agencies accompany and propagate, mobilize people to provide information to implement the campaign.
