GOYANG CITY, 6 June 2014 – Republic of Korea Armed Forces’ (ROKAF) personnel due to relieve the first batch engaged in a humanitarian mission in the Visayas laid a wreath of flowers at the Philippine Monument in Goyang City, just outside of Seoul, in memory of Filipinos who fought in the Korean War, on the occasion of Memorial Day.

“I wish to thank the ROK Armed Forces on behalf of Ambassador Raul S. Hernandez for your gesture in honouring the Filipino Korean War heroes in observance of Korean Memorial Day,” Col. Eddie Maningding, Defense and Armed Forces Attaché in Korea, told the 300 members of the second batch of ROKAF’s Araw Unit, who are due to leave for a six-month deployment to Tacloban in central Philippines on 30 June 2014.

They will take the place of the first ever joint unit of 540 engineers, medics and other supporting forces and doctors from the Army, Navy, Air Force and the Marine Corps dispatched overseas in December 2013 to distribute relief goods, provide medical support and help in the rebuilding of areas devastated by Typhoon Yolanda.

Col. Maningding also expressed gratitude for the ROKAF’s continuous support in the rehabilitation of typhoon-affected areas in Leyte that has greatly helped the typhoon victims in the region.

South Koreans, from government officials to ordinary citizens, continue to express their gratitude to the Philippines and 15 other countries that sent combat troops as part of a United Nations’ joint coalition to defend their country against the invasion from the north.

As the eighth country to respond to UN’s call for assistance, the Philippines sent 7,420 soldiers to South Korea, 112 of whom were killed in battle. Five battalion combat teams, with a tour of duty of one year each, were deployed from 1950 to 1955.

The government of South Korea inaugurated the memorial, still the biggest extant at 21.5 meters, here in Goyang City, located 17 km northeast of Seoul in Gyeonggi Province, in October 1974 to honor the Philippines’ role in the 1950-1953 conflict.

Memorial Day is observed as a national holiday in Korea to commemorate the men and women who died while in military service during the Korean War and other significant wars or battles.