The Voluntary Agency Network of Korea has launched a global campaign to build Korean War memorials in 67 countries that helped South Korea during the Korean War.

To this end, the civic group started a petition Monday on the world’s biggest petition website, change.org.

The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs is currently working with the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation to build what has been called a Wall of Remembrance inside the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, the US capital, by 2022.

VANK said South Korea should expand those efforts to include all Korean War allies throughout the world.

“The freedom and peace of the Republic of Korea were not the only values that the Korean War veterans preserved with their sacrifices,” the civic group wrote in the online petition. “The Korean War veterans sacrificed for peace in Northeast Asia and for world peace.”

Among the 67 countries, 16 sent UN forces, five gave medical support, 40 provided supplies and six supported South Korea’s postwar reconstruction. Guinness World Records lists South Korea as the country that received help from the largest number of allied countries during a war.

Along with the online petition, VANK created a digital poster to thank South Korea’s allies, with the word “thank” spelled out vertically in capital letters. The horizontal text reads, “Thank you UN veterans / Heartily / Admire you / November 11 / Korea always remembers you.”

Nov. 11, the anniversary of the 1918 armistice that ended World War II, became South Korea’s official memorial day for UN Korean War veterans last year.

The digital poster also includes a picture of a US Marine Corps veteran and a message of appreciation for young South Koreans for remembering those who served.

Established in 1999, VANK has actively carried out numerous campaigns both online and offline to promote information about South Korea to the world.

By Kan Hyeong-woo (hwkan@heraldcorp.com)