Soldiers donate prize money to descendents of war vets
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Sgt. Ahn Joon-hyung, front row right, delivers 10 million won which he and his colleagues received in prize money from a contest, to Lee Heung-woo, an administrative officer of the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, Oct. 7. The money will be used for the memorial’s scholarship project designed to support descendents of Korean War veterans. / Courtesy of the Army
By Jun Ji-hye
Seven soldiers belonging to the Army 2nd Operations Command have donated 10 million won ($9,000) they won to descendents of Korean War veterans, according to the Army.
The soldiers received the money after winning the 2016 World Soldiers & Youth Security Vision Presentation Contest, hosted by the Ministry of National Defense in July.
The soldiers are Sergeants Kim Se-hyun (R), Ahn Joon-hyung, Choi Da-han and Kim Joon-yeon, Corporals Hong Sung-jin and Ha Jae-hyung and Private First Class Oh Sung-ho.
At the contest, they presented a musical in which they suggested proper roles for young people in contributing to promoting national security and building peace on the Korean Peninsula.
The ministry first hosted the annual contest last year to raise awareness about security and peace in soldiers and youngsters around the world. Besides musicals, the contest calls for participants to present their messages through various means including plays and dance performances.
A total of 507 teams from 12 countries participated in this year’s contest. The preliminary contest took place for two months starting May. Among them, 22 teams from 10 countries including Germany, China, the United States and Australia advanced to the finals held on July 19 at Lotte Cinema in Jamsil, southeastern Seoul.
The seven soldiers said they wanted to do something good with their prize money and decided to donate it to the descendents of those who fought for the 1950-53 Korean War.
They visited the War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, central Seoul, Oct. 7, to donate the money to a scholarship project run by the memorial.
“While preparing for the contest, we thought a lot about the importance of national security,” said Sgt. Choi. “We hope that our small donation can help repay war veterans’ sacrifice and service.”