Tacloban-bound Korean troops honor Filipinos in Korean War

MANILA, Philippines — Before leaving for the Visayas, 300 members of the Korea Armed Forces recently laid a wreath of flowers at the Philippine Monument in Goyang City, just outside Seoul to honor Filipinos who fought in the Korean War.

The Korean troops are due to relieve the first batch deployed for a humanitarian mission in typhoon-ravaged areas in the Philippines for six months. The gesture was in commemoration of the Memorial Day on June 6.

Col. Eddie Maningding, the Philippines' defense and armed forces attaché in South Korea, thanked the second batch of Korea's "Araw Unit" bound for Tacloban City.

"I wish to thank the [Republic of Korea] Armed Forces, on behalf of Ambassador Raul S. Hernandez, for your gesture in honoring the Filipino Korean War heores in observance of Korean Memorial Day," Maningdin said in a Department of Foreign Affairs (DFA) report.

Maningding also expressed gratitude for the Korean military's support in the rehabilitation of typhoon-affected areas in Leyte since December last year.

The DFA said that South Koreans--from government officials to ordinary citizens--still express their gratitude to the Philippines for sending 7,420 soldiers to aid their country against invasion of the north in the 1950s.

Of the group, 112 Filipinos were killed in battle.

The Philippines was the eigtht country to respond to the United Nations' call for a joint coalition to defend South Korea. Five battalion combat teams,with a tour of duty of one year each, were deployed from 1950 to 1955.

The South Korean government inaugurated the memorial in October 1974 in Goyang City, located 17 kilometers northeast of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, to honor the Philippines' role in the 1950-1953 conflict

It is still the biggest existing memorial at 21.5 meters.

The Korean government recently informed Defense Secretary Voltaire Gazmin that Seoul wishes to donate a corvette warship to Manila.

South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwang-jin said South Korea’s gesture is “a small token” compared with the contribution of Filipino soldiers during the Korean War.

Read: Seoul to donate corvette warship to Phl Navy