UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. Yonhap News. 

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced on the 7th that 80 individuals, including veterans of the Korean War from UN participating countries and their bereaved families, will visit Korea from the 8th to the 13th.

This event, held to commemorate the International Day of Remembrance of the Korean War Veterans (the 11th), includes 14 countries where veterans are buried at the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Colombia, Türkiye, and Belgium.

The oldest visitor among those coming to Korea is 100-year-old Colombian veteran Luis A. García Velandia.

He participated in the Battle of the Hook as an army soldier belonging to Colombia's 4th Battalion. While his unit achieved a record of killing over 600 Chinese soldiers, the battle also resulted in significant sacrifices, with over 220 Colombian soldiers killed or wounded.

Dutch veteran Willem Frederik van Straalen will visit Korea for the first time in 72 years since the Korean War.

Having served as a third-class seaman in the navy, he recalled transporting refugees and wounded soldiers to ships at the time, saying, "It remains deeply in my heart to this day."

Others visiting Korea include Michel Aimé de Mol, the younger brother of Belgian veteran Oscar de Mol, who died in the Battle of Jachgol in 1953; Jane M. Park, the daughter of British veteran William Lorimer, who died in the Battle of the Imjin River in 1951; and bereaved families of Turkish veterans whose remains have not been recovered.

They will lay wreaths at the Monument to Fallen Soldiers at the War Memorial of Korea on the 9th, travel to Busan on the 10th, and attend the International Day of Remembrance of the Korean War Veterans ceremony and a thank-you luncheon on the 11th.

Afterward, they will travel to Seoul, visit Changdeokgung Palace on the 12th, attend the "Concert for UN War Veterans, Heroes" held at the KBS Hall in Yeouido, and depart on the 13th.

Yonhap News