South Korea honoring veterans of war that secured its existence

Almost 1.8 million Americans served in the Korean War from 1950 to 1953, with more than 36,000 giving their lives for a struggling country on the other side of the world that most had never heard of.

While the U.S. provided the bulk of the combat forces, it was one of 22 nations that contributed troops to a war that ended in a stalemate but also preserved the independence of what is now a prosperous, democratic society.

On Thursday, South Korean officials were in Washington to acknowledge their debt to the countries that made up the United Nations Command.

“We honor their service and we express our sincere gratitude,” said Seulki Kim, international policy director at the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

Addressing this year’s International Conference on Veterans Affairs, Mr. Kim said Seoul is doing more than just offering best wishes to Korean War veterans.

The ministry sponsors trips to Korea for combat veterans and their families that include a visit to the Demilitarized Zone on the border with communist North Korea.

Almost 35,000 have made the trip since the program began in 1975, officials said.

The South Koreans also hold reparation ceremonies at the U.N. cemetery in Busan for war veterans who have died.

“Some veterans decide to be buried with their comrades,” Mr. Kim said.

Jennifer C. Walsh, deputy director of the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency, said she attended a recent ceremony to commemorate the July 27, 1953, signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement.

That pact ended the fighting, though a formal peace treaty has never been signed and the two Koreas remain technically at war.

“Although that conflict is not fully over, the armistice has held and our bonds have grown ever stronger year after year,” she said.

More than 7,300 Americans are described as “unaccounted for” from the Korean War, with 5,300 of them going missing in North Korea. Ms. Walsh said her agency estimates that they have been able to recover just over 7,000 remains.

“This provides the families and all of us hope and motivation to do all we can to bring these heroes home,” she said. “Unfortunately, time is not on our side.”