Andrew Salmon awarded British royal order

Andrew Salmon

By Jon Dunbar

Seoul-based reporter and author Andrew Salmon has been tapped as a recipient of the Most Excellent Order of the British Empire (MBE).

Salmon was among more than 1,000 names released last Friday as part of Queen Elizabeth II’s Birthday Honors List 2016. His selection was announced by British Ambassador to Korea Charles Hay on Saturday at the envoy’s residence during the annual Garden Party of the Royal Asiatic Society.

Royal honors are announced twice a year: on the queen's official birthday and at New Year.

Salmon, who has studied the history of the U.K.’s involvement in the Korean War (1950-53) and welcomed many war veterans back to the country they defended, is being recognized for his services to those veterans.

“Greater thanks are due to those who were the subject of my research: British veterans of the Korean War,” said Salmon in a Facebook post. “The sun is setting on these men, but truly ― in terms of the challenges they surmounted, their attitude toward hardship and sacrifice and the job they did on the Korean battleground ― they were better men than we.”

“Now, in their twilight years, they are all intensely proud to see what Korea has made of herself and deeply moved by the reception they receive from today’s Koreans.”

A columnist of The Korea Times, Salmon has covered the Korean Peninsula for Forbes, Al Jazeera, the Daily Telegraph, Nikkei Asia Review and the South China Morning Post.

He has published five books on Korea, including “To the Last Round: The Epic British Stand on the Imjin River, Korea, 1951,” which was named Best Military Book of 2009 in his home country and given a Korean Wave award by the National Assembly.