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| Starkey Korea CEO Shim Sang-don, left, receives a certificate for an honorary Korean War Medal from Brigadier Gen. Woo Kyung-kwan, on behalf of his late father Shim Eun-taek at Starkey Korea Hall in Seoul, Wedneday. Courtesy of Starkey Korea |
By Shim Jae-yun
Starkey Korea CEO Shim Sang-don received a Korean War military medal on behalf of his late father, Shim Eun-taek, who served the nation in the 1950-1953 war, during a ceremony at Starkey Hall in Seoul, Wednesday.
The award ceremony took place as part of a government campaign to find the unsung heroes of the war and honor them or their descendants with Korean War military medals since 2019.
"I extend my heartfelt gratitude to the government for offering such a medal of honor without forgetting (my father's service), though belatedly," Shim said after receiving the medal. Brigadier Gen. Woo Kyung-kwan, in charge of personnel affairs of the ROK Army, presented Shim with the medal on behalf of Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup.
Participants in the event included dignitaries such as former South Chungcheong Province Governor Shim Dae-pyeong, now chairman of the Cheongsong Shim Clan Association, former Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs Park Seung-choon and former Army chief of staff Chang Jun-kyu and so on.
After the ceremony, Shim donated 30 million won ($23,700) to the Korea KATUSA Veterans Association for the construction of the Korean War Memorial Wall of Remembrance in Washington D.C. The ground-breaking ceremony for the wall was held on May 21, 2021, in the presence of the visiting former Korean president, Moon Jae-in and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin. The monument is set to open in July.
In recognition of his contribution to the establishment of the memorial wall, Shim has been invited to attend the opening ceremony as a "special guest of honor." U.S. President Joe Biden will possibly attend the ceremony in a show of its alliance with South Korea. Sources say President Yoon Suk-yeol will also likely attend the event as he has been invited to visit the U.S.
Apart from the contribution to the wall construction, Shim has been donating Starkey hearing aids to Korean War veterans, including 100 million won worth of devices to 16 veterans from U.N. member countries and 40 million worth of hearing aids to 10 others from Ireland.
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