Veterans of the Korean War were honoured yesterday in an event marking the 75th anniversary of the start of the War on 25 June 1950.
The event was divided into two: the formal ceremony in the morning, and the afternoon entertainments, in between which was a generous Korean lunch provided by the organisers.
The dignitaries providing the formal speeches included the Kingston Mayor (Cllr Noel Hadjimichael) and the Korean Consul-General Sungho Han, along with Victor Smith, Chairman of the British Korean War Veterans Association; Muryong Choi, president of the Korean Veterans Association UK; and Jong-koo Lee, a Korean veteran from the Vietnam War. Seungha Hwang represented the Korean Residents Society.
One of the more moving events was the presentation of awards to children who had distinguished themselves in an essay competition, in which they had been asked to compose a letter to an imaginary Korean War veteran. Jisu Min from the Cambridge Korean School read out her winning entry after a celebratory choral performance by the United Korean Residents Choir.
The afternoon’s entertainments provided something for all tastes: an elegant samgomu three-drum dance by choreographer Jooyun Yoo, followed by a dynamic demonstration by the young members of the Wild Tiger taekwondo group. Later came samulnori from the Korean Senior Citizens group and K-pop dance routines from Dimera.
But two other acts stole the show: first, the North Korean Residents Society provided five dancers who managed to change their outfits five times during the course of a dance lasting less than five minutes.
And then there was the real star performer, the winner of Britain’s Got Talent 2019: Korean War Veteran and Chelsea Pensioner Colin Thackery, who treated us to three moving songs including a rendition of Arirang, during which a member of the audience rose and danced with him.
The event was organised by the UK branch of the Korean Veterans Association, an organisation formed in Busan during the Korean War by around 30,000 discharged soldiers and which became a legal entity under the Veterans Association Act enacted by the Korean National Assembly in 1963.