Lotte backs overseas Korean War veterans
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Lotte Group Chairman Shin Dong-bin, left, poses with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin after signing an agreement to support overseas Korean War veterans at the minister's office in Seoul, Wednesday.
By Park si-soo
Lotte Group has joined hands with the Ministry of National Defense to support surviving Korean War veterans of other countries.
Lotte Chairman Shin Dong-bin signed a memorandum of understanding for the philanthropic project at the ministry in Seoul with Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin in attendance.
Under the agreement, the company will run the project for five years and some 3,800 veterans in Thailand will become the first group of beneficiaries.
The Southeast Asian country deployed some 15,700 troops to fight against North Korean invaders during the 1950-53 bloody clashes on the Korean Peninsula, the second largest in scale following the United States.
Lotte will spend 700 million won ($625,000) this year building welfare centers for the surviving veterans and other supportive facilities.