War remains recovery team hosts event for foreign defense officials
By Korea HeraldPublished : April 27, 2017 - 11:42
A South Korean task force on the recovery of remains held a special event Thursday for foreign defense officials at embassies in Seoul as part of what it calls "defense diplomacy, marking the 10th anniversary of its establishment.
The Agency for KIA Recovery & Identification at the Ministry of National Defense took note of the decisive help of 60 nations that sent troops and materials for South Korea fighting against the invading North Korea in the 1950-53 Korean War.
Among them, the US and 16 countries dispatched combat soldiers, with five others sending medical teams. And 39 countries provided aid materials.
Officials at the agency, the motto of which is "Noble sacrifice, eternal repayment," said it played host to the event to express their gratitude to those foreign countries, deepen cooperation on war remains recovery work and promote the development of defense diplomacy.
"We won't forget that the freedom and peace we relish today is the fruit of the blood and sweat of the U.N. forces as well as South Korean troops," Col. Lee Hak-gi, head of the agency, said.
"We will do our best for the location and recovery of the remains of those killed during the Korean War."
A total of 17 defense attaches from 14 nations joined the event.
They paid tribute at war dead at the Seoul National Cemetery, toured the National Museum of Korean Contemporary History in the capital and had a luncheon. (Yonhap)
-
Articles by Korea Herald