Army general gets US merit medal

Army Maj. Gen. Yin Sung-hwan, right, poses with 2nd Infantry Division commander Maj. Gen. Theodore Martin after receiving the Legion of Merit, Wednesday. / Courtesy of ROK Army

By Kang Seung-woo

A Korean two-star general has received a U.S. military award for his contribution to the ROK-U.S. Combined Division.

According to the Army, Thursday, Maj. Gen. Yin Sung-hwan, the commander of the 56th Infantry Division, got the Legion of Merit ― a decoration issued to members of the U.S. Armed Forces as well as to military personnel of foreign nations.

The Combined Division, comprised of the 2nd Infantry Division (2ID) of the Eighth U.S. Army and the 16th Brigade from the ROK Army, was established in 2015 to effectively contain North Korea’s weapons of mass destruction. Yin served as the deputy commander for one year. The division is headed by the 2ID commander.

“On the basis of his excellent leadership, he made contributions to strengthening the ROK-U.S. alliance by promoting joint exercises and enhancing the combined defense posture,” the Army said.

“He also endeavored to improve ties between Korea and American troops through various programs.”

It is not the first time for Yin to receive a U.S. military medal.

In 2006, he was awarded the Meritorious Service Medal by the U.S. military for his one-year service at the Central Command in Florida in 2003.

He has spent more than 30 years in the military and in most cases his work has had something to do with the U.S. troops.

In 1992, he worked as the first Korean commander of the Joint Security Force at the inter-Korean border village of Panmunjeom, assisted by a U.S. Army lieutenant as his executive officer.

“The ROK-U.S. alliance has played a key role in deterring war on the Korean Peninsula and defending freedom and peace here,” Yin said. “I will further try to strengthen the alliance.”

Currently, more than 28,000 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea as a deterrent against North Korea ― a legacy of the 1950-53 Korean War. The two Koreas still remain technically at war because the three-year war ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.