Koreans remember this date in history as an armistice agreement was signed to pause the
forgotten war.
Back in 2013, it was also designated UN Forces Participation Day.
For our news features tonight, Oh Jung-hee shows how the nation honored the brave and
selfless soldiers from around the world that gave their lives fighting for strangers in
a strange land.
June 25th, 1950.
Some 75-thousand soldiers from North Korea poured across the inter-Korean border.
The UN Security Council immediately urged the North to halt its hostilities...
but with no response coming,... the council called on the member states to provide South
Korea with the necessary assistance.
16 countries sent combat troops... and 5 provided medical assistance units.
Almost 2 million soldiers were sent in total.
After two years of ceasefire negotiations,... the UN forces and the North Korean and Chinese
forces signed an armistice agreement on July 27th, 1953.
The bloody, three-year-long war left 40-thousand UN soldiers killed... and 10-thousand missing
or captured.
"Where I'm standing right now -- United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea -- is the only
UN cemetery in the world.
To commemorate those who fought and sacrificed their lives in the Korean War,... the Korean
government offered this land for UN's permanent use in 1959 through a joint agreement with
the UN.
A total of 23-hundred war veterans from 11 countries are buried here."
The UN flag is raised every morning... and flowers and national flags are laid on the
graves of those who died on that day during the war.
Visitors come from all over the world to pay respect to the war dead.
" Our nation soldier came here for democracy and freedom.
I saw it written in one of the Seoul museums "Freedom is not free."
So many nations fight for freedom.
Turkey came here to support Korean people.
These days, young people are generally interested in music and life."
Only those who were killed during the war were buried here.
But a few veterans -- who returned to their homes after the war -- expressed their hope
to be buried at this cemetery when they die... mostly because of the comradeship they shared
with their fellow soldiers.
"These war veterans cannot be buried here according to our agreement.
But the veterans and their families requested a review on this matter on a humanitarian
basis... and the cemetery's commission approved their request.
Five more veterans have been buried here, and a burial ceremony for a Dutch war veteran
is to take place next month."
The South Korean government invites war veterans every year so that it can show them respect.
This year, roughly 130 war veterans from 15 countries... visited the inter-Korean border
town of Panmunjom and the national cemetery to pay tribute to their fellow soldiers.
They say, during the war, there wasn't much interaction among different national troops.
But, they shared one clear goal: defending South Korea from the communist forces.
"I met one from England, and I met one from Turkey.
We were all abandoned brothers.
We fought to our one cause, to keep South Korea safe and independent.
And if I'd have to, I'd do it again… at 88 years old."
Among the countries that joined the UN forces,...
Ethiopia was the only African country that sent battle troops to the Korean War.
Then-emperor Haile Selassie the First sent his imperial bodyguards to South Korea right
after the war broke out... and over 6-thousand soldiers were dispatched to South Korea until
1965 for the war and the post-war reconstruction.
Taedesse Metaferia, a war veteran from Ethiopia, says... back then, he was completely absorbed
in the fierce battles... and now, he feels proud that he contributed to making the current
South Korea.
"We got an order from the emperor that we should fight and win.
So we fought until the very end, thinking that we MUST win and can't return.
I'm very happy to visit Korea again.
It's my first time in almost 70 years."
Support from UN member nations played a critical role in helping South Korea recover from the
war and develop.
Now, it's South Korea's time to fulfill its roles in the international community -- as
a recipient-turned-donor country -- to promote peace and freedom in the world.
Oh Jung-hee, Arirang News.