Korea unveils monument honoring Korean war veterans

A monument honoring 2,482 Ethiopian veterans officially confirmed to have participated in the Korean War has been erected. So far, 3,518 Ethiopians have been known to have participated in the war.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced on Tuesday that the monument's unveiling ceremony was held in Addis Ababa, Ethiopia, on the previous day. The monument, which has the names of 2,482 Ethiopians whose participation in the Korean War was confirmed through official documents or bereaved family testimonies, was completed with budget support (approximately 90 million won) from the Korean government.

The monument was made of marble and placed at the bottom of the Korean War Participation Memorial in Addis Ababa. In reply to a question asking the reason for the delay of the monument, the Ministry of Veterans Affairs explained that it had been difficult to confirm‎ the precise number of people who participated in the war due to lost records of war veterans during the communist regime in Ethiopia. “The monument was created after the Ethiopian Ministry of National Defense and Foreign Affairs and the Korean Ministry of Defense and other related organizations conducted an investigation and confirmed the names of 2,482 veterans since July last year,” the ministry said.

It has been known that around 3,518 Ethiopian troops participated in the Korean War. At that time, 16 countries, including the United States, the United Kingdom, and Canada, sent combat troops to Korea during the war, with Ethiopia sending the largest number of troops among African countries.

The Ministry of Veterans Affairs made sure there was excess space in the monument to accommodate the names of Ethiopian veterans to be identified through investigation.

“The government and people of the Republic of Korea will forever remember the sacrifice of the Ethiopian veterans who helped the Republic of Korea in crisis with compassion,” said Veterans Affairs Minister Kang Jeong-ae, who attended the monument unveiling ceremony.


Hyo-Ju Son hjson@donga.com