UNMCK - UNITED NATIONS MEMORIAL CEMETERY IN KOREA

To the Korean War Veterans of Belgium Hello, dear veterans of Belgium. My name is Jae Young Jeong, also called as Tony. I am a highschooler from South Korea, currently attending the Hankuk Academy of Foreign Studies, otherwise known as HAFS. Before all else, I would like to take a moment to say thank you to all your actions and sacrifices you have made and contributed to this country. All we have built and raised in this country is on the foundation in which you have implanted through bravery and ardor. Korea, as a country and a community of thousands of people, thank you again and again for your service. I am currently a member and a captain of ‘Creative Campaign’, a school club that supports both the domestic and the international Korean War Veterans. We, as a group, took great interest and decided to learn and teach more about the Veterans of Korean War. We ran campaigns at our school, opened booths at the school festival, and did many things that were within our reach. But I always wanted and felt the need for a way to directly communicate with the foreign veterans. I take this chance as a gift and express the utmost gratitude and veneration to you. Korea went through massive changes after the Korean War. Sure, there were rocky time with the politics and all, but it became a livable environment. There are skyscrapers and business buildings, our metro system is one of the best in the world, and our media and culture are being imported to hundreds of countries. Now, the students are able to dream about their future professions, the young are able to look for opportunities and chances, the old can rest. The war grounds that people ran away from now became home to others, including me. But this could be only because there were brave men that came to help us in our most dire situation, there were people who were courageous enough to go to a country that they never saw or heard before and dare to do an act of valor. I do know that many Veterans are worried that Korean War will be forgotten or just be remembered as a war that neither side won. But I assure you with all my heart, Korean War will never be forgotten in Korea as well as anywhere else in the world. Every year, people’s interest on history is on the rise, and there will come a time when all of Korea and the world fully acknowledge what happened in this small country located at a peninsula in North East Asia. To talk a little bit about myself, I have never visited Belgium personally, but I heard great stories from the people who have visited there. It is one of the destinations I want to visit the most when I become an adult. I thank you all once again for your contributions and sacrifices. We will never forget you. From. Jae Young Jeong