[INTERVIEW] Photographer documents forgotten Korean War veterans around the world

Photographer Rami Hyun has photographed over 2,000 veterans from 13 countries as part of "Project Soldier." Courtesy of Rami Hyun

By Lee Gyu-lee

Photographer Rami Hyun / Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

"Their time is running out," said photographer Rami Hyun, who runs "Project Soldier," which has been documenting the veterans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War ― often referred to as the "forgotten war," as it is overshadowed by World War II and the Vietnam War.

The coronavirus pandemic has put many people, if not most, in restricted positions, putting barriers on daily life and overseas travel. However, such disheartening obstacles did not stop Hyun from traveling and carrying out his mission to share the stories of local and overseas Korean War veterans, so that they will not be forgotten.

"Most of those veterans are in their 80s and 90s … And (as time passes by) not many will still be alive, so I'm doing my best to document as many veterans as possible," the photographer, whose real name is Hyun Hyo-jae, said in an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in Seoul, Tuesday.

"The only thing they want is to be remembered that they fought on our land. They've spent their lives as forgotten soldiers. So they are more than happy that someone is trying to give them recognition and to help keep a record of them."

A photo of Korean War veterans in the U.S. taken in Greenville, South Carolina / Courtesy of Rami Hyun

The 43-year-old photographer opened his own studio in 2010 after graduating from the Academy of Art University in San Francisco and coming back to Korea.

Three years later, he came across a sergeant major while working to make a promotional video for a military unit here. The major's wish to go on a family trip for the first time after retiring from his three decades of service struck his interest.

"He said he is not ashamed of the 28 years he served in the military, but he got emotional when saying that he does regret not being there for his family because of his duty," he said. "I was shocked that a family trip could be someone's wish … And I started to feel ashamed. These soldiers are great people. So I started to look for ways to express my gratitude to them."

A group of soldiers from the 5th Army Division in Korea / Courtesy of Rami Hyun

Hence, he initiated "Project Soldier" in a way to pay respect as well as to keep a record of those who sacrificed themselves to serve their country. He started the first part of the project, "I Am a Soldier," in 2013, taking portraits of active-duty soldiers in uniform.

Despite Hyun's goodwill to help soldiers see their own greatness through the photos he took and gave them free of charge, the project received skeptical views with some people criticizing him for trying to benefit financially or win fame using the soldiers.

However, the response from the soldiers, some of whom sent him letters asking to take part in the project, fueled him through the project and led to its subsequent series: "We are Soldiers" and "We are Soldiers' Family."

Then in 2016, it was by complete chance that he ran into a Korean War veteran from the United States who was visiting the exhibition of the project.

"I just simply asked him if he was a veteran. And in that short sentence in which he introduced himself, I felt a strong emotional impact: a sense of pride," Hyun said, adding that it was nothing like what he saw in the soldiers he had met previously. "I got curious how they came to take such a strong pride in battling in a foreign country. I wondered how their look was so different than that of Koreans and wanted to ask."

Photographer Rami Hyun speaks during an interview with The Korea Times at the newspaper's office in central Seoul, Tuesday. Korea Times photo by Shim Hyun-chul

Out of pure curiosity, he decided to take a trip to England in 2017, simply to meet a foreign war veteran at his house and take his photo.

"I was just going to take his portrait and leave in 30 minutes, but I ended up staying for four hours. For him, it wasn't about being photographed, but was about a young man ― from the country that he fought for but that forgot about him ― coming all the way over to thank him and listen to his story," Hyun said.

What was meant to be a one-time trip ended up leading to another, and developed into the fourth iteration of the project, "Searching for Korean War Veteran," to cover the war veterans around the world, including the ones here.

British Korean War veterans at the National Railway Museum York in the U.K. / Courtesy of Rami Hyun

Since then, Hyun has taken pictures of over 2,000 veterans from 13 countries. He has been traveling to different cities in the U.S and England ― including two trips to the U.S. since the pandemic broke out ― to take photos and deliver the framed pictures to the veterans out of his own pocket or with fundraised money.

When director Hedy Lee, who runs a video production agency in New York, got on board the project in 2019, the two also started sharing videos of their work and interviews of the veterans.

"Many veterans think of themselves as cowards because they survived the war. This is both an art project and a recordkeeping one, because the portraits capture them as veterans, not as someone's father, husband or co-worker," he said.

"The pictures capture their souls. So when I deliver the framed pictures to them, they see themselves in the pictures and realize that they are not cowards but real heroes."

Korean War veterans in Korea pose at Goseong Unification Observatory Tower in Gangwon Province, Oct. 1, 2021. Courtesy of Rami Hyun

The photographer said that seeing the veterans through the portraits of them now has a bigger impact on younger generations than looking at old war photos by letting them grasp the emotional side of the Korean War.

"The older generation gets emotional even by just looking at war photos from that time. But for the younger people, it doesn't feel relevant," he said. "But if they see the portraits of the veterans at later ages, toward the end of their lives, they can feel the veterans' emotions and value, which has a completely different weight."

Although Hyun continued on the meaningful mission for years against the odds, negative views, and even accusations that the project had political intentions, he faced a crisis when he severely injured his back during a visit to the U.S. in 2020.

"I had to stay in bed for three months. And even when my back was getting better, I almost gave up everything, because I was out of money, my back was injured, and the equipment for the photo shoot was worn out," he said.

Portraits of Korean War veterans from the U.S. / Courtesy of Rami Hyun

Just when he was about to stop, he got a call from tvN's talk show, "You Quiz on the Block," hosted by popular comedian Yoo Jae-suk. The episode that featured Hyun's story created a buzz, garnering more interest in his project from the public.

"(Before the show,) only specific people took interest in the project. But since then, more diverse people came to be familiar with it," he said.

According to the U.S. Department of Veterans Affairs, there were about 1.1 million Korean War veterans alive in the U.S. as of 2020. The U.S. deployed 6.8 million service members to the war. The number of surviving veterans is expected to decline sharply to 100,000 by 2030.

Hyun emphasized that time is of the essence for Korean War veterans, adding that he has set a timeline to put his full focus into capturing the veterans until 2023.

"The year 2020 marked the 70th year since the start of the Korean War, but we couldn't do anything because of COVID-19. (The veterans) missed the chance to get their spotlight as a part of history. So we now only have 2023, which is the 70th anniversary of the war ending in an armistice," he said. "After that, not many people will remember them … even if people do, the veterans might not still be alive."

Colonel William Bill Weber, a U.S. Army veteran of the Korean War / Courtesy of Rami Hyun

When asked what keeps him going, he simply answered, "It's fun."

"The satisfaction the veterans show for my photos is enormously greater than the amount of work I put in. And that's my motivation. I want my work to survive for a long time, and this recordkeeping will last forever even after the veterans' or my death," he expressed. "There are not many records left of Korean War history, and not many people know about it, like what happened during that time. I want to fill in that lost history. And I need to do it while they are still alive."

He also noted that he wants the record to share the different lives of the soldiers at the time. "Indeed, it was the battlefield and the war was horrible. But even within that, people had joy, sadness, and love," he said. "The devastating side is not the only thing we should keep records of, but we also should remember that there were lives and hopes. Because those hopes kept alive made us who we are today."

Hyun and Lee plan to travel to countries like Thailand, the Philippines and Australia, starting in March, to continue with the project.

A family photo of a Korean soldier in the 5th Army Division / Courtesy of Rami Hyun

The photographer said that he hopes to hold exhibitions of his work for "Searching for Korean War Veteran" in different countries, to show and inform people of the work their ancestors did for Korea.

He also expressed that he has several plans to carry on different subsequent series in the umbrella project, "Project Soldier," starting with the fifth one to capture the veterans after the Korean War, along with those in the United Nations Command.

"I would also like to take pictures of the (active-duty) soldiers in the 22 countries that fought for Korea," Hyun said. "I wanted to show them that we have not forgotten the work they have done for Korea and to let them know that those works are valued. And I can do so by keeping these records."