15th Turn Toward Busan Ceremony honors Korean War veterans, fallen service members

Photo By Dani Johnson | The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs held their annual Turn Toward Busan Ceremony at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, Nov. 11, 2023. This year's commemoration involved 70 UN veterans and family members, 51 from 10 countries and 19 of Korean descent from three countries, who were invited through the MPVA's Revisit Korea Program. Distinguished Visitors in attendance were British Army Lt. Gen. Andrew Harrison, United Nations Command deputy commander; Park Min-shik, Minister of Patriots & Veterans Affairs; Park Soo-young, Member of the National Assembly; Alejandro Pelaez Rodriguez, Ambassador of Colombia to Korea; H.E. Colin James Crooks LVO, British Ambassador to the Republic of Korea; and Park Heong-joon, 39th Mayor of Busan Metropolitan City.  

BUSAN, 26, SOUTH KOREA

11.11.2023

Story by Carrie Castillo 

U.S. Forces Korea

BUSAN, South Korea—The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs held its annual Turn Toward Busan Ceremony at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, Nov. 11, 2023.

This commemoration is celebrated every year on November 11, since 2008. Canadian veteran Vincent Courtenay initiated the Turn Toward Busan International Memorial Ceremony in 2007 with the official slogan, Turn Toward Busan, this slogan has been used among the 22 Member States and means that people around the world should remember and commemorate Busan, a site where fallen UN service members rest in peace.

This year’s commemoration involved 70 UN veterans and family members, 51 from 10 countries and 19 of Korean descent from three countries, who were invited through the MPVA’s Revisit Korea Program.

“I look in awe at the veterans before me,” said British Army Lt. Gen. Andrew Harrison, deputy commander, United Nations Command. “They stand this morning as proud and steadfast as they were 70 years ago. Days when they faced, undaunted, the unknown horrors of war.”

The ceremony honors the sacrifice of the 2,311 service members from 11 countries, who fought in the Korean War. The MPVA hosts the commemoration ceremony here on the Korean peninsula where the rules based international order was first defended after World War II. The program continually re-invites the veterans and family members of the service members buried in the cemetery to Korea.

"Think not of them as the wise, aged men you see today," proclaimed Harrison. "Think of them as the proud warriors who stood tall against a tide of aggression, protecting the green shoots of this beautiful, bountiful land. Think of them as guardians of a fragile cradle of Korean democracy."

Following the Turn Toward Busan Ceremony, an interment ceremony was conducted for the following service members:
• Brian Wood, Sapper Private, 28th Field Engineer Regiment, United Kingdom
• Bryan James Laurenson, Leading Medic, Royal Destroyer, United Kingdom
• Sgt. Maj. José Sergio Romero, 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion, United States 7th Infantry Division
• 1st Sgt. José Gustavo Pascagaza León, 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion, United States 7th Infantry Division
• Pvt. Luis Carlos García Arcila, 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion, United States 7th Infantry Division
• Pvt. Jorge Sánchez Tapia, 1st Colombian Infantry Battalion, United States 7th Infantry Division
A Belgium interment ceremony is scheduled here, for Nov. 15, 2023.

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• Date Taken: 11.11.2023
• Date Posted: 11.11.2023 04:40
• Story ID: 457664
• Location: BUSAN, 26, KR