Gen. MacArthur receives Taegeuk Order of Military Merit in 74 years

A physical Taegeuk Order of Military Merit was delivered to the late U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur, who became the first awardee of the medal in South Korea 74 years after he attended an award ceremony.

The state medal was bestowed to Norfolk Mayor Kenneth Cooper Alexander at the MacArthur Memorial located in Virginia, the United States on Friday, on behalf of the late general on his birthday, according to the South Korean Ministry of National Defense.

After the Korean War broke out, MacArthur served as the United Nations Forces Commander. In recognition of his honorable service and contributions, the general was awarded the First Class Order of Military Merit, equivalent to the Taegeuk Order of Military Merit as we know it today, by then-South Korean President Rhee Syngman at a ceremony to commemorate the recovery of Seoul on Sept. 29, 1950.

With no physical medal back then, the South Korean government only presented him a soft copy of its certificate and an actual medal of the Order of Merit for National Foundation with the pledge to replace it with an actual Taegeuk Order of Military Merit when it was ready. As the war situation grew unpredictable later, the real medal could not be bestowed on the general. The MacArthur Memorial has since housed the paper certificate only. Thanks to a visitor’s comments that the actual medal was not displayed in the museum, the defense ministry made and presented an actual badge to the memorial center. Arthur MacArthur IV, the only son of the late general, said in a letter to the South Korean government that the state medal would unite the citizens of South Korea and his father eternally.


Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com