Pukyong National University

"Impressed with Korean youth who have not forgotten us even after 70 years"
'Spotlight', Pukyong National University students held an event to look for Canadian war veterans.

△ Pukyong students are taking pictures with Canadian Veteran, Mr. Mamoru Yamane (in the middle of the front row)

Korean youths who flew 8000 km resounded the heart of Canadian war veterans in return for the favor of overseas veterans of the 6‧25 Korean War that occurred 70 years ago.

The gratitude event was held with 13 students from the UN Supporters of the Peace Corps of Pukyong National University (CEO Lim Hyo-bin, 3rd grade, Dept. of English Language and Literature) invited 50 Canadian war veterans and 50 families of war veterans from Seaford Highlanders in Vancouver, Canada, on January 16 (in Korean time).

Pukyong students read the letters of gratitude prepared in front of the war veterans who participated in the gratitude event and sang songs of gratitude. They also gave thanks and souvenirs to the war veterans. Eyes of the old soldiers were reddened by heart-warming event which students held.

Mr. Mamoru Yamane (age 86), a Japanese-Canadian war veteran who attended the event, said, “Thanks to them and I am proud of the young students who have come to distant place without forgetting us even after a long time. I am very happy to hear from other veterans after a long interval through this event.”

The Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Vancouver decided to join the event in response to the young Koreans' visit, and Lee Kang-joon, the consular representative also attended the event and awarded the veterans with a medal of appreciation.

The UN Supporters, the host of the gratitude event, was launched in 2009 to honor the sacrifices of the warriors who died in the Korean War. Their mission is to visit the UN Veterans of the World War, as well as the UN Memorial Park, the world's only UN cemetery next to Pukyong National University.

They departed from Korea on the 13th for a 10-day overseas peace service. Canada dispatched 27,000 more soldiers, the third largest after the United Kingdom, during the Korean War, and 516 of them were sacrificed. The remains of 378 war veterans are buried in UN Memorial Park.

Lim Hyo-bin (age 23) of UN supporters said, “We were impressed by the people who wept tears of joy and thanked us for our hard work. As time goes by, there are fewer veterans left, but I made a promise to myself to work harder to keep them from being forgotten.” <Pukyong Today>


△ A group commemorative photo of a gratitude event for Canadian Veterans.