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| Korea's White Tiger Division passes Vietnamese fleeing during the Vietnam War in this photo taken on Dec. 12, 1967. Korea Times file |
By Lee Hae-rin
The government will set a day to commemorate the service and sacrifices of soldiers dispatched overseas, such as the United Nations peacekeepers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War as well as Korean soldiers deployed to Vietnam from 1964 to 1973.
According to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Monday, the government will designate May 29 as the "Day of Soldiers Dispatched Overseas" via a revision to the Act on Honorable Treatment of War Veterans and Establishment of Related Associations.
The revision will allow the government to designate the holiday and to host events celebrating the occasion. It passed the Ministry of Government Legislation's review and vice-ministerial meeting and now needs to pass the review by the Cabinet council and the National Assembly to become law.
The envisaged day will fall on the same day as the International Day of U.N. Peacekeepers designated by the United Nations in 1948. It was the day that the U.N. Security Council authorized dispatching the organization's first peacekeeping forces to the Middle East and formed the United Nations Truce Supervision Organization (UNTSO).
The ministry said the country is well aware of overseas troops' contribution to peacekeeping. Korea benefited from the large-scale support of the international community in terms of combat and medical forces during Korean War, so has decided to push for the commemorative day.
The day also aims to mark Korea's first big deployment overseas during the Vietnam War. During the administration of former President Park Chung-hee, over 320,000 Korean soldiers were sent to Vietnam upon the request of the U.S. and South Vietnamese governments.
The ministry said the day should recognize not only Korea's Vietnam War veterans but also the contributions of soldiers dispatched overseas to world peace in general, to underscore the country's dedication to peacekeeping as a member of the international community.
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