ADDIS ABABA – Ethio-Korean War Veterans Association said that the newly built welfare center for Korean War Veterans in Ethiopia is helpful to expand the service of the association.
Association’s president Col. Melese Tessema told The Ethiopian Herald that the people and government of South Korea are now doing a lot in support of Ethio-Korean War Veterans and their families. And the newly built welfare center, a two-story building, laid on 712.8 square meters constructed in Addis Ababa with the support of South Korea’s Lotte Group was inaugurated last Monday.
The association says that the center will play an important role to broaden all the activities of the associations. The association will use it for different purposes – office, conference hall, museum, recreational, and others. “We would like to sincerely appreciate the people and government of South Korea for their support,” said Col. Melese.
The welfare center was built to honor the sacrifice of Ethiopian soldiers, he said. Sources from the South Korea indicated that the welfare center in Ethiopia is the third of its kind to be built under South Korea’s project to express gratitude for international soldiers’ commitment and sacrifice. The first such facility was established in Bangkok in 2014, and the second in Bogota, Colombia, in 2017.
Ethiopia had sent a total of 6,037 ground troops in five Kagnew battalions to the 1950-53 Korean War. The battalions rotated yearly, with the First Kagnew Battalion arriving at the front in 1951. The three Kagnew battalions with about 3,500 soldiers directly participated on the war but the two Kagnew battalions participated in peacekeeping involvement, he said.
Among 3,500 soldiers, 122 were killed and 536 were wounded during the conflict, the ministry said. About 143 veterans are still alive, he added. “Ethiopia was the only African nation that sent ground troops to the 1950-53 conflict,” he indicated.
The Ethiopian Herald, November 15/2019
BY ABDUREZAK MOHAMMED
