KOICA, Lotte Scholarship Foundation to support descendants of Korean War veterans

KOICA President Sohn Hyuk-sang, right, poses with Lotte Scholarship Foundation Chairman Huh Seong-kwan at the latter's office in Seoul, Monday, after signing a MOU to support descendants of international Korean War veterans. Courtesy of KOICA

By Kang Seung-woo

The Korea International Cooperation Agency (KOICA) and the Lotte Scholarship Foundation have agreed to jointly support scholarships for the descendants of Korean War veterans overseas. KOICA and the foundation signed a memorandum of understanding (MOU), Monday, under which the two organizations will establish a cooperative system that will recommend and select recipients.

According to KOICA, about 150 descendants of Korean War veterans from the Philippines, Ethiopia, and Colombia are likely to be awarded a total of $67,500 in scholarships.

Along with the scholarship, KOICA has operated other supportive programs to honor those who fought in the 1950-53 war, such as COVID-19 Comprehensive Rapid Program in Ethiopia, a project for vocational capacity building for Korean veterans' descendants in Ethiopia; a project for the establishment of the Human Resources Development Center in the Philippines; and a project to set up a rehabilitation center in Colombia.

The Korea-Colombia Friendship Integral Rehabilitation Center in Bogota, which opened in 2016, is a specialized rehabilitation institution in Colombia, the only Latin American country that participated in the Korean War. The $11.5 million (12.9 billion won) center is mainly used by Korean War veterans, Colombian civil war-wounded soldiers, and injured security police.

The Lotte foundation has also provided scholarships of 400 million won to 800 people from six countries ― South Africa, Ethiopia, Turkey, Thailand, Colombia, and the Philippines ― since 2017 to support the descendants of Korean War veterans.

“Supporting the development of the countries is also a way to pay tribute to the noble sacrifices of the veterans, and we will continue to cooperate with them in the future,” KOICA President Sohn Hyuk-Sang said in a press release.