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| Retired Sergeant Park Dong-ha, left, and Corporal Park Mun-joon speak to each other during a ceremony where they were awarded the Legion of Honour, the highest decoration in France, in recognition of their service in the French Battalion during the Korean War, at the French ambassador's residence in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
By Kwon Mee-yoo
Two Korean War veterans, Park Dong-ha, 94, and Park Mun-joon, 91, received the highest French order of merit in recognition of their camaraderie with the French Battalion during the 1950-53 Korean War.
French Ambassador to Korea Philippe Lefort and Patrick Beaudouin, the president of the National Association of Veterans and Friends of the French Forces of the United Nations, awarded the Chevalier (knight class) of the Legion of Honour medals to retired Sergeant Park Dong-ha and Corporal Park Mun-joon at the French embassy in central Seoul, Monday.
Both Parks volunteered for military service in December 1950 and were assigned to the French Battalion of the United Nations in February 1951.
"They joined their French and Korean comrades ... on the eve of one of the most strategic battles at Chipyong-ni," Ambassador Lefort said.
"From that moment until 1953, alongside their brothers in arms, they knew the various battles which sublimated the exploits of the French Battalion, carried in legend: Hill 1037, the hill of Mt. Udu, the battle of Putchaetul, Crevecoeur (Heartbreak Ridge), during which one of them was injured while assisting one of his comrades, and of course, Arrowhead Ridge."
The ambassador said that Park Dong-ha and Park Mun-joon have maintained friendly relations with the French Embassy for decades.
"From the height of their nearly century-old experiences, they continue to bear witness to their experiences of this conflict," Lefort said.
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| Patrick Beaudouin, left, the president of the National Association of Veterans and Friends of the French Forces of the United Nations, confers the Chevalier class of the Legion of Honour medal to former Sergeant Park Dong-ha at the French ambassador's residence in Seoul, Monday. Yonhap |
Park Dong-ha and Park Mun-joon were bestowed with "La Medaille Militaire," a French military decoration, in March 2021, which made them eligible for the highest French honor.
Park Mun-joon thanked the French government recognizing their service some seven decades later.
"I didn't expect the French government to award us after such a long time," Park Mun-joon said after the ceremony.
Beaudouin, who flew to Seoul to confer the medals, acknowledged the two Parks' courage.
"Sergeant Park Dong-ha and Corporal Park Mun-joon, of the Second Company of the French Battalion in Korea, the French soldiers who fought with you know that both of you are shining testimony of the commitment of Koreans in the service of freedom for your country and exemplary behavior during the violent combats of the French Battalion against the enemy," Beaudouin said.
Beaudouin also thanked the Korean government, which continuously expressed gratitude for veterans who came to Korea 70 years ago to defend freedom.
"I am thinking of the constant warm welcome during visits by veterans, the delivery of face masks during the COVID-19 pandemic and the scholarship program for the veterans' descendants in Korean universities," Beaudouin said.
According to the French Embassy, France dispatched 3,421 soldiers to Korea during the Korean War, with 269 dead and 1,008 injured.
