War memorial reopens refurbished U.N. Hall

The War Memorial of Korea in Yongsan, Seoul, reopened the newly furnished U.N. hall on Wednesday.

The exhibition room on the third floor has been renovated to mark 60 years since the signing of the Korean War armistice. South and North Korea fought each other from 1950-1953 and are still technically at war.

Its space has been expanded from 990 square meters to 1,647 square meters after four months of remodeling.

The number of items on display also has increased from about 400 to some 1,000. The newly added relics have been collected from U.N. member countries which joined South Korea in the war against the communist North. The museum has sought them intensively since 2010 when Korea commemorated the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the conflict.

The U.N. Room’s focus of presentation has changed from battles or different scales of troop dispatch to human interest stories of individual veterans who must have been either someone’s son or husband, the museum said.

While the old exhibition featured only 20 countries ― 16 countries which sent combat units and four countries which provided medical assistance, the new room introduces wartime aid activities by 63 countries including 42 countries that sent materials.

The reopening ceremony was held at 10 a.m. with Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin, retired four-star general and Korean War veteran Paik Sun-yup, War Memorial of Korea general director Sun Young-jae, Korean War Veterans Association chairman Park Hee-mo and others attending.

By Chun Sung-woo ()