‘Napalm Girl’ wins the Dresden Peace Prize

A girl running naked down a road, who informed the world of the gruesome reality of the Vietnam War, has received an international peace prize in Germany.

Major foreign media such as AP News reported that Phan Thi Kim Phuc, the "Napalm Girl" featured in the iconic Vietnam War photo, was awarded the Dresden Prize at the 10th International Peace Prize held at the Semper Opera in Dresden on Monday (local time).

"She became a goodwill ambassador for UNESCO, founded an organisation for children wounded and maimed in war, and speaks each year to thousands of people," said organizers of the Dresden Prize. “We live in times during which hate is generally at large. But it is repeatedly the victims of violence and war who renounce hate. Kim Phuc Phan Thi has shown just such greatness and so has become a worldwide exemplar.”

Former recipients of the Dresden Prize include former Soviet leader Mikhail Gorbachev, who ended the cold war, Jewish conductor and pianist Daniel Barenboim, who worked for the harmony of Israel and Palestine, and American Olympic medalist and civil activist Tommie Smith, famous for his black-glove performance at the Mexico City Olympic Games in 1968 as a human rights movement for blacks. The Dresden Prize awards 10,000 euros to recipients.


Bo-Mi Im bom@donga.com