More than 80,000 soldiers.
That's the number belonging to the second largest allied forces that took part in the
Korean War.
And that number belongs to the UK, a country that was already devastated by two world wards.
And although Britain suffered a staggering death toll from that war, more than any other
way after world War II, it took years and lots of efforts for London to establish a
public memorial commemorating the fallen British heroes.
Our Kwon Jang-ho meets with these war verterans from a conflict that came to be known as the
forgotten war, and gives us an insight of their journey.
During the Korean War, the UK provided the second
largest number of troops to the United Nations forces, sending over 80-thousand soldiers.
But it was also the ally with the second highest death toll at 1,106.
And yet in Britain, the 1950 conflict on the Korean peninsula is often referred to as the
Forgotten War, coming so soon after two world wars.
"The public had been fed up with war itself, there wasn't the television coverage or the
media coverage like there is nowadays, so it's understandable I suppose."
Sergeant Alan Guy served in the Royal Army Medical Corps, and he arrived in Korea in
1952.
He spent the next 20 months providing medical services to his fellow soldiers and trying
to alleviate disease and injury.
But when he returned home, he found few who cared.
"I arrived in the middle of the night, there was nobody there to greet me, there were no
buses.
I lived five miles from the railway station, I went to the local police station and said,
'Can you help me to get home?' and they said 'No.
You're a soldier.
Walk '"
Lance Corporal Michael Griffin was a machine gunner for the Royal Norfolk Regiment, and
he experienced a similar homecoming.
"Nobody knew a lot about the Korean War.
There was a little bit in the newspapers but it was such a long way off."
Both were humble young soldiers, and the lack of recognition didn't concern them much at
the time, but as the years went by, it became more disconcerting.
"It was the memorial that really upset me -- that our government hadn't produced a memorial.
I don't think they realized that we'd lost more people than the whole of the Iraq, Afghanistan
and Falklands Wars put together.
I don't think they realized the seriousness and how important that war was."
Sergeant Guy and members of the British Korean Veterans Association had campaigned for the
construction of a public memorial in London, but found their own government unwilling at
first, due to financial and logistical concerns.
It was only with the help of the Korean government, which offered to fund the project, that it
finally became a reality.
"This monument was erected in 2014, 61 years after the end of the Korean War.
London was the last capital city to establish such a memorial, among the 16 allied nations
that had fought in the war under the UN flag."
The monument was also a symbol of Korea's continued recognition of the service and sacrifice
that British troops had made, so the war would no longer be forgotten.
For Sergeant Guy and Lance Corporal Griffin, it was a dream come true, and a confirmation
that their efforts had not been in vain.
"The South Korean people have rebuilt a country that was devastated by war, and turned it
into one that is a world leader.
And that, in itself, is a lasting tribute to those that made the ultimate sacrifice
during the dark years of 1950 to 1953."
Kwon Jang-ho, Arirang News, London.