Stories of Thai veterans of Korean War to be revisited in webtoon

By Park Han-sol

A promotional image for the upcoming webtoon series “One Day, My Favorite K-Pop Idol Group Leader Disappeared!” / Courtesy of Kakao Entertainment

Days after the 1950-53 Korean War broke out, Thailand became the first Asian nation to respond to the U.N.'s call for aid to South Korea.

Over the course of three years, it supplied the war-ravaged country with 40,000 tons of rice as food aid and dispatched 6,326 soldiers in army, navy and air force units to fight off waves of enemy attacks, according to the Ministry of National Defense.

After the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, Thailand continued to maintain a combat unit in Korea until 1972.

A webtoon series that aims to revisit and celebrate this underappreciated historical legacy left by Thailand's contribution to the Korean War will be launched later this year.

Kakao Entertainment and the Korean Cultural Center (KCC) in Thailand will unveil the series, titled “One Day, My Favorite K-Pop Idol Group Leader Disappeared!” (direct translation), on the Southeast Asian nation's online platform in September, the company announced, Friday.

As its title indicates, the historical fantasy begins with the sudden disappearance of the leading member of a chart-topping K-pop boy band named Little Tiger. While his entire existence begins to mysteriously fade from the public's memory, the protagonist Pim, a doctor and the only devoted fan who remembers him, ends up time traveling into the past ― to the outbreak of the Korean War.

Pim's journey is expected to be filled with encounters with young Thai soldiers, whose sacrifices tell the horrors of the war that left at least 3 million dead.

The band's name, Little Tiger, comes from the moniker given by the then-commander of the 8th United States Army to recognize the Thai battalion's valor.

The webcomic series will be written by Kim Soo-ah and the KCC Thailand ― based on interviews conducted with veterans stationed in Korea at the time ― and illustrated by Thai artist Phoenix.

“Although Thailand serves as the hub of hallyu in the ASEAN region, the younger generations in both countries are not fully aware of the sacrifices made by Korean War veterans,” KCC Thailand Director Cho Jae-il said in a statement. “This realization is what prompted us to launch this webcomic series.”

Hyun Yang-won, managing director of Kakao Entertainment's Thailand branch, added: “This series, which will be born from the collaboration between creators of the two nations, will show the power of webtoons as a cultural bridge.”