The remains of Whang Ki-whan, a Korean independence fighter who campaigned to restore the country's sovereign rights against Japanese colonization, have been repatriated 100 years after his death in the United States.

The remains of Whang, who had been laid to rest at Mount Olivet Cemetery in New York following his death in 1923, landed aboard a Korean Air flight at Incheon International Airport at 9 a.m. Monday.

Veterans affairs minister Park Min-shik greeted Whang's remains at the airport, alongside descendants of fellow independence activists such as Lee Hoe-yeong, Kim Koo, Yun Bong-gil, Kim Jwa-jin, and An Jung-geun.

Posthumously conferred with the Fourth-Class Patriot Medal of the Order of Merit of National Foundation in 1995, he finally received the honor upon the arrival of his remains.

Born in Sunchon, South Pyongan Province in what is now North Korea in 1886, Whang moved to Hawaii at the age of 19 and joined the U.S. Army in 1918 to fight in World War I. 

After the war, he supported a Korean delegation at the Paris Peace Conference in 1919, before taking part in independence activities for Korea's provisional government in France and the U.S.

Whang's remains are set to be interred at the Daejeon National Cemetery later on Monday.

He is known to have inspired the character Eugene Choi in the TV drama "Mr. Sunshine."