By For all my Canadian readers out there, look who is stopping by the DMZ:
Prime Minister Stephen Harper will visit the demilitarized zone between South and North Korea on Monday, Harper’s aides announced Saturday.
Harper, who arrived in Hong Kong Saturday, will travel to Seoul, South Korea, Sunday night.
His itinerary, released in Ottawa last week, included an address to the South Korean National Assembly, the first Canadian prime minister to be accorded that honour.
On Saturday, his aides said he would travel to the demilitarized zone and they said he would also visit a cemetery near there where Canadians killed in the Korean War are buried. [Ottawa Citizen]
Does anyone know where this Canadian cemetery near the DMZ is located? I have never heard of it before. I know there are Canadians buried at the UN Cemetery down in Busan, but I have never heard of Canadian soldiers buried anywhere else in Korea.
For those interested I recommend reading these two postings in regards to Canada’s involvement in the Korean War:
12:10 pm on December 6th, 2009 1
According to Veterans Affairs:
“There are 378 Canadians buried in Busan and 16 buried elsewhere in unknown graves. Additionally, Canada lost five naval personnel at sea.”
http://www.acc-vac.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=feature/koreanwar/anniversaries/55/011
These 16 unknown soldiers are commemorated on the Commonwealth Memorial (Pusan) which reads:
1950 1953
ON THIS MEMORIAL ARE INSCRIBED THE NAMES OF MEN FROM BRITAIN, CANADA,
AUSTRALIA, NEW ZEALAND AND SOUTH AFRICA WHO DIED IN THE KOREAN WAR AND
HAVE NO KNOWN GRAVE. THEY DIED WITH MEN OF OTHER COUNTRIES FIGHTING TO
UPHOLD THE IDEALS OF THE UNITED NATIONS
http://www.acc-vac.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=memorials/asia_afr/pusan
I bet that some of those whose bodies were returned to Canada are buried bear The Korean War Memorial Wall at Meadowvale Cemetery in Brampton, Ontario.
http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Korean_War_Memorial_Wall_%28Canada%29
I think the Ottawa Citizen is talking about the Canadian Korean War Memorial Garden in Kapyeong.
http://www.acc-vac.gc.ca/remembers/sub.cfm?source=history/koreawar/pilgrimage/garden
I think that is it for Canadians buried in Korea, except for Dr. Frank Schofield (hero of the Japanese occupation era and only westerner in Patriots section of Korean National Cemetery in Seoul)
http://www.korea.net/news/News/NewsView.asp?serial_no=20060417003&part=103&SearchDay=
9:34 pm on December 6th, 2009 2
Wow, good info Bob, thanks for that. I was going to comment about Busan… but didn’t know about the other sites. I’ll have to visit Kapyeong sometime soon.
6:27 am on December 7th, 2009 3
You didn’t know about Kapyong? Dude…
6:27 am on December 7th, 2009 4
“I think the Ottawa Citizen is talking about the Canadian Korean War Memorial Garden in Kapyeong. ”
My first thought.
6:36 am on December 7th, 2009 5
I just hope the reporter isn’t originally from Winnipeg, Shilo, or Edmonton(2PPCLI used to be based in Winnipeg, now it’s based in Shilo, the rest of the regiment is in Edmonton).
12:01 pm on December 7th, 2009 6
You can check out my prior posting on the Commonwealth Memorial at Kapyeong here:
http://rokdrop.com/2008/10/09/a-profile-of-kapyongs-commonwealth-memorial/
You can reach Kapyeong by train from Seoul.
The Canadian Korean War Memorial linked in the above posting is a short drive outside of Kapyeong further down the valley in a rural area. You will need to get a cab driver to take you out there if you don’t have your own wheels.
7:00 pm on December 7th, 2009 7
Wow, a whole a thread without any bashing of Koreans! And it’s been over a day. Very impressed. This is abnormal.
5:21 am on December 8th, 2009 8
Bashed!!!