CANDABA - A Korean delegation visited this town Wednesday to pay tribute to the Filipino soldiers who fought with them during the outbreak of Korean War on June 25, 1950.
"Human Hospitaller Organization" (H2O) operations manager Ahn Yong-Hoon said Filipinos and Koreans have been helping each other long before and when war erupted in their country.
Yong-Hoon said there are about 7,420 Filipino soldiers who fought in the Korean War under the United Nations (UN) Command then headed by American General Douglas McArthur.
"This is our simple way of saying thank you to the Filipinos," Yong-Hoon added.
The Koreans are here to renew their friendship with the Filipinos. Their visit also aimed to revive cooperation particularly in times where help is most needed, he said.
Yong-Hoon likewise said that their organization is planning to conduct a series of community outreach programs in various villages in the coming months.
"We are also here for exchange of culture," he added.
With this, local officials are set to construct a "Korean Friendship Monument" to further strengthen ties with the Koreans.
Based on history, one battalion combat team from the Philippines arrived in Busan on September 19, 1950 on board an American warship.
Former President Fidel Ramos was then one of the soldiers deployed in Korea who wore his military insignia as a young first lieutenant after his graduation from the West Point Military Academy in the United States.
It can also be noted, that the late Benigno Simeon "Ninoy" Aquino, Jr., father of now President Benigno "Noynoy" Aquino III, at age 17, was the youngest war correspondent to cover the Korean War for the newspaper "The Manila Times" of Joaquín "Chino" Roces.