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Korean War remembered, 65 years later

June 25, 2015

A military chaplain holds a young child in this photo taken by the International Committee of the Red Cross (ICRC) during the 1950-53 Korean War. The ICRC’s Regional Delegation for East Asia released photos that provide a rare glimpse of the tragedy, Tuesday, to mark the 65th anniversary of the outbreak of the war. (Yonhap)

By Jun Ji-hye

It has been 65 years since North Korea launched a surprise attack against the South on June 25, 1950. During the three-year war that ensued, over 1.3 million people died and the nation fell into ruin.

For some time, South Korea needed significant assistance from the global community in order to recover from the war. Then, the nation achieved remarkable economic growth — it became a member of the G20 in 2008 and the 24th country to join the Development Assistance Committee of the Organization for Economic Cooperation and Development in 2009.

The Korean people wanted to repay the countries that sent forces through the U.N. flag to help them rise from the ravages of war. According to the Ministry of National Defense, a total of 1.9 million U.N. servicemen from 21 nations fought in the war. Among them, 40,670 were killed in the conflict, and 4,116 were never accounted for.

South Koreans at home and abroad are hosting various events to mark the 65th anniversary of the start of the Korean War and to express their gratitude to the fallen heroes and the war veterans.

In particular, Koreans living in the United States have been actively holding such events. The U.S. dispatched 1.78 million troops to Korea, the most among the countries that helped.

The New York-based Korean American Youth Foundation held a music concert on June 20 to commemorate the upcoming anniversary and pray for peace at a church in Flushing. Meanwhile, the Korean American Senior Citizens League of Santa Clara will invite 200 war veterans and their families to an event at a church in Milpitas, Calif., to mark the anniversary on June 25.

“The event is intended to express our gratitude to those who helped during the war at a young age to protect people in a small and strange country,” Park Yeon-sook, president of the organization, told reporters.

The organization, which has held the event for 28 years, noted that it has also invited politicians, including Congressman Mike Honda, San Jose Mayor Sam Liccardo and Milpitas Mayor Jose Esteves to this year’s event.

The Korean American Association of New Hampshire is planning to hold a ceremonial raising of allies’ flags as well as a banquet dinner party on the anniversary day.

Diplomatic missions are holding similar events. The Consulate General of Korea in Seattle invited 120 war veterans and their families at the end of last month to award Ambassador for Peace Medals as a sign of the nation’s gratitude.

The Consulate General of Korea in San Francisco awarded the medals to 50 war veterans in April.

U.S. Marines cover wounded North Korean soldier as he hoists himself to stretcher in the Naktong River sector of the Korean front on August 23, 1950. The captive was flushed out of a nearby rice paddy, still clutching his automatic weapons. A search of his clothing disclosed an American watch, lighter and other items apparently taken from a dead U.S. soldier. (AP Photo/Max Desfor)

The awarding of peace medals to war veterans has been led by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs since 1975 as part of its program to welcome the veterans into the nation they fought for.

“Since 2011, embassies and consulate generals have delivered medals in person to those who are unable to visit Korea owing to their health conditions,” the ministry’s press officer Jang Hyo-jung said.

A medal awarding ceremony also took place in Sydney and Melbourne last year for former Australian soldiers who displayed gallantry in the battlefields, such as in the Battle of Gapyeong in April 1951. About 8,400 Australian soldiers were sent to the war, according to the Defense Ministry.

The Korean Embassy in Thailand awarded scholarships to 120 descendants of Korean War veterans in an effort to express gratitude to 6,300 Thai soldiers sent to the war.

For its part, the Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) has been focusing on various official development assistance projects to countries that helped during the war, such as the Philippines, Ethiopia and Colombia.

Last year, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs-affiliated organization invested 24 billion won ($21.7 million) in the Philippines. This year, it plans to invest 24.5 billion won in such projects there, like developing water resources. The Philippines dispatched about 7,400 soldiers to the war.

Since its foundation in 1991, the KOICA has invested 41.3 billion won in Colombia, the only nation from Central and South America to fight alongside South Korea against the Chinese-backed North Korean forces. The money has mainly been used for the country’s medical facilities, small- and medium-sized enterprises and an antipoverty project in agricultural and fishing villages. About 5,100 Colombian soldiers fought in the war.

Various events have taken place at home as well.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs invited Turkish Korean War veterans in April and awarded them the Ambassador for Peace Medals. It was planning to invite more war veterans this month, but the plan was postponed to next month owing to the sudden outbreak of the Middle East Respiratory Syndrome in the nation.

Some 650 students of Hansin Elementary School in Seoul wrote letters to the war veterans both in Korean and English, while a group of students of Pukyong National University in Busan visited Australia to lay flowers on the Monument for Korean War in Canberra and meet with war veterans in Brisbane.

In addition, the Hwacheon County Office in Gangwon Province gave scholarships to offspring of the war veterans in Ethiopia since 2009. Ethiopia sent 3,500 soldiers to the war.