The United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea (UNMCK; ), located at Tanggok in the Nam District,; also see
Korea 1:50,000 Pusan Sheet 7019 III (1947)
an

City of Busan,As a transliteration from

Korean Korean may refer to: People and culture * Koreans, ethnic group originating in the Korean Peninsula * Korean cuisine * Korean culture * Korean language **Korean alphabet, known as Hangul or Chosŏn'gŭl **Korean dialects and the Jeju language ** ...

, the city name 부산 () was typically spelled "Pusan" in McCune-Reischauer until 2000. The official

Revised Romanization Revised Romanization of Korean () is the official Korean language romanization system in South Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korea, Korean Pen ...

spells the name Busan. See

Republic of Korea South Korea, officially the Republic of Korea (ROK), is a country in East Asia, constituting the southern part of the Korean Peninsula and sharing a land border with North Korea. Its western border is formed by the Yellow Sea, while its ea ...

, is a burial ground for

United Nations Command United Nations Command (UNC or UN Command) is the multinational military force established to support the Republic of Korea (South Korea) during and after the Korean War. It was the first international unified command in history, and the first a ...

(UNC) casualties of the

Korean War {{Infobox military conflict , conflict = Korean War , partof = the Cold War and the Korean conflict , image = Korean War Montage 2.png , image_size = 300px , caption = Clockwise from top: ...

.The Korean War started on 25 June 1950 when North Korean forces pushed south of the 38th parallel which divided Korea following World War II. With authorization from the United Nations, forces from the United States and other nations pushed the North Koreans back to the north. When these UN forces approached China, Chinese forces intervened and the battlefront eventually stabilized along the 38th parallel. The Korean Armistice was signed on 27 July 1953 to end the fighting. It contains 2,300 graves and is the only

United Nations The United Nations (UN) is an intergovernmental organization whose stated purposes are to maintain international peace and security, develop friendly relations among nations, achieve international cooperation, and be a centre for harmonizi ...

cemetery in the world. Laid out over , the graves are set out in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of the buried servicemembers.

History

Temporary battlefield cemeteries and remains recovery

The

began when North Korean People's Army forces attacked south in June 1950. As the fighting progressed, temporary

military cemeteries A war grave is a burial place for members of the armed forces or civilians who died during military campaigns or operations. Definition The term "war grave" does not only apply to graves: ships sunk during wartime are often considered to ...

for battle casualties were established by United Nations forces near the towns of Taejon (9 July 1950), Kwan-ui (Kwan-ni),
Kum-chon, and Sindong. When the North Korean forces pushed towards Busan, these cemeteries had to be abandoned. Later, as the

Battle of Pusan Perimeter The Battle of the Pusan Perimeter ( ko, 부산 교두보 전투) was a large-scale battle between United Nations Command (UN) and North Korean forces lasting from August 4 to September 18, 1950. It was one of the first major engagements of the ...

developed, temporary cemeteries were established at

Masan Masan is an administrative region of Changwon, a city in the South Gyeongsang Province. It was formerly an independent city from 1949 until 30 June 2010, when it was absorbed to Changwon along with Jinhae. Masan was redistricted as two distric ...

Miryang Miryang (perhaps pronounced as Milbeol using Idu script), formerly also spelled as 推火郡 (probably pronounced as Milbeol or Miribeol using Idu script), Milbeol (密伐) and Milseong (密城), is a city in Gyeongsangnam-do Province, South Korea ...

, and

Taegu Daegu (, , literally 'large hill', 대구광역시), formerly spelled Taegu and officially known as the Daegu Metropolitan City, is a city in South Korea. It is the third-largest urban agglomeration in South Korea after Seoul and Busan; it is ...

, with a Busan cemetery being established on 11 July 1950. As the fighting pushed into North Korea, temporary cemeteries were established in or near the towns of

Kaesong Kaesong (, ) is a special city in the southern part of North Korea (formerly in North Hwanghae Province), and the capital of Korea during the Taebong kingdom and subsequent Goryeo dynasty. The city is near the Kaesong Industrial Region close t ...

Sukehon Sŏnch'ŏn County is a ''kun'', or county, on the coast of the Yellow Sea in west-central North P'yŏngan province, North Korea. To the north it borders Ch'ŏnma, to the east Kusŏng and Kwaksan, and to the west Tongrim; to the south, it bord ...

Wonsan Wŏnsan (), previously known as Wŏnsanjin (), Port Lazarev, and Genzan (), is a port city and naval base located in Kangwŏn Province, North Korea, along the eastern side of the Korean Peninsula, on the Sea of Japan and the provincial capital. ...

, Pupchong ( Pukchong County), Yudarn-ni and Koto-ri. Some eleven division-level cemeteries were established in the first two months of fighting and later five UN military cemeteries were established in North Korea. Graves registration service - korea

At the beginning of the war, the nearest U.S. Army mortuary affairs unit was the 108th Graves Registration Platoon in

Yokohama, Japan is the second-largest city in Japan by population and the most populous municipality of Japan. It is the capital city and the most populous city in Kanagawa Prefecture, with a 2020 population of 3.8 million. It lies on Tokyo Bay, south of ...

, which was searching for the remains of missing World War II American airmen. The only other American

active duty Active duty, in contrast to reserve duty, is a full-time occupation as part of a military force. In the United Kingdom and the Commonwealth of Nations, the equivalent term is active service. India The Indian Armed Forces are considered to be ...

graves registration unit was at

Ft. Bragg, North Carolina Fort Liberty, formerly Fort Bragg, is a military installation of the United States Army in North Carolina, and is one of the largest military installations in the world by population, with around 29,000 military personnel. The military reserva ...

. The 108th was reconfigured as the 114th Graves Registration Company and deployed to establish temporary cemeteries at

Hungnam Hŭngnam is a district of Hamhung, the second largest city in North Korea. It is a port city on the eastern coast on the Sea of Japan. It is only from the slightly inland city of Hamhung. In 2005 it became a ward of Hamhung. History The port ...

Pyongyang Pyongyang (, , ) is the capital and largest city of North Korea, where it is known as the "Capital of the Revolution". Pyongyang is located on the Taedong River about upstream from its mouth on the Yellow Sea. According to the 2008 populat ...

, and Suchon as the fighting continued. Supporting the 2nd Infantry Division was the Graves Registration Section of the second Quartermaster Company, which collected the remains of Allied and American soldiers to be further processed by the 148th Graves Registration Company. When UN forces launched the

Inchon Invasion The Battle of Incheon (), also spelled Battle of Inchon, was an amphibious invasion and a battle of the Korean War that resulted in a decisive victory and strategic reversal in favor of the United Nations Command (UN). The operation involved so ...

in September 1950, a platoon from the 565th Graves Registration Company accompanied them. Other mortuary affairs units included the 293rd Graves Registration Company, activated in April 1951. It was difficult to recover remains and conduct burials in Korea, due to the rugged geography and harsh climate, and the threat of unexploded ordnance and

booby-traps A booby trap is a device or setup that is intended to kill, harm or surprise a human or another animal. It is triggered by the presence or actions of the victim and sometimes has some form of bait designed to lure the victim towards it. The trap m ...

Construction of the Tanggok cemetery

Construction of the United Nations Military Cemetery (UNMC) at Tanggok began on 18 January 1951 and was carried out by hand-labor over a site. It was dedicated by General

Matthew Ridgway General Matthew Bunker Ridgway (March 3, 1895 – July 26, 1993) was a senior officer in the United States Army, who served as Supreme Allied Commander Europe (1952–1953) and the 19th Chief of Staff of the United States Army (1953–1955). Alth ...

on 6 April 1951. Graves Registration units then concentrated American and allied remains at Tanggok before they were permanently buried or repatriated. Besides burial services, refrigeration units to store remains were added, as were cremation facilities. Casualties from the

Colombia Battalion The Colombian Battalion was an infantry battalion of the Colombian Army that served under United Nations Command during the Korean War from 1951 to 1954. The first Colombian military unit to serve in Asia, the battalion was attached to the U.S. 7 ...

were cremated at Tanggok by the American Graves Registration Service and then repatriated to Colombia in 1954. Today the 2,300 graves in the cemetery are set out in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of the buried service members.

Post-armistice

Following the signing of the

Korean Armistice Agreement The Korean Armistice Agreement ( ko, 한국정전협정 / 조선정전협정; zh, t=韓國停戰協定 / 朝鮮停戰協定) is an armistice that brought about a complete cessation of hostilities of the Korean War. It was signed by United Sta ...

in July 1953, the United Nations Command sought to recover bodies interred in North Korean territory. Cemeteries for POWs in North Korea were established at 16 POW camps. From September to October 1954, the resulting exchange of casualties, dubbed

Operation Glory Operation Glory was an American effort to repatriate the remains of United Nations Command casualties from North Korea at the end of the Korean War. The Korean Armistice Agreement of July 1953 called for the repatriation of all casualties and priso ...

, between United Nations forces and the North Koreans resulted in 4,219 remains being recovered, of which 1,275 were non-US casualties. (Also exchanged were the remains of approximately 14,000 North Korean and Chinese casualties.) From 1950 to 1954, approximately 11,000 casualties were interred at UNMC, which was maintained by the United States Army Graves Registration Agency.

Foundation as a United Nations cemetery and transfer to CUNMCK

It was officially established as the United Nations Memorial Cemetery on 15 December 1955 with the passage of

UN General Assembly Resolution A United Nations General Assembly resolution is a decision or declaration voted on by all member states of the United Nations in the General Assembly. General Assembly resolutions usually require a simple majority (50 percent of all votes plus ...

977(X). Following the war, the cemetery was funded from the United Nations budget, but the Sino-Soviet world objected to this funding. In 1973, the cemetery was transferred from the UN to the Commission for the United Nations Memorial Cemetery (CUNMCK), which is composed of representatives from the 11 countries who have servicemembers buried there.

Cultural heritage and tourism

The cemetery is designated as Site 359 in the listing of Registered Cultural Heritage Sites in Korea by the

Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea The Cultural Heritage Administration () or CHA, formerly the Cultural Properties Administration, is the agency of the South Korean government charged with preserving and promoting Korean cultural heritage. It is headquartered in the city of D ...

. Also, it is a visitor attraction for

Pacific Rim The Pacific Rim comprises the lands around the rim of the Pacific Ocean. The '' Pacific Basin'' includes the Pacific Rim and the islands in the Pacific Ocean. The Pacific Rim roughly overlaps with the geologic Pacific Ring of Fire. List of ...

tourists. In 2011,

United Nations Secretary-General The secretary-general of the United Nations (UNSG or SG) is the chief administrative officer of the United Nations and head of the United Nations Secretariat, one of the six principal organs of the United Nations. The role of the secretary- ...

Ban Ki-moon Ban Ki-moon (; ; born 13 June 1944) is a South Korean politician and diplomat who served as the eighth secretary-general of the United Nations between 2007 and 2016. Prior to his appointment as secretary-general, Ban was his country's Minister ...

described it as the only United Nations cemetery in the world.

Memorials

Honour Guard A guard of honour (British English, GB), also honor guard (American English, US), also ceremonial guard, is a group of people, usually military in nature, appointed to receive or guard a head of state or other dignitaries, the fallen in war, o ...

from the Republic of Korea 53rd Division carries out flag ceremonies daily. The UN Sculpture Park was established in October 2001 and twenty-nine permanent memorials are in the cemetery. The memorials include: *

Commonwealth of Nations The Commonwealth of Nations, simply referred to as the Commonwealth, is a political association of 56 member states, the vast majority of which are former territories of the British Empire. The chief institutions of the organisation are the ...

memorials: ** Australian Memorial ** British Memorial – dedicated 2010 ** Monument to Canadian Fallen – an identical monument is located in downtown

Ottawa Ottawa (, ; Canadian French: ) is the capital city of Canada. It is located at the confluence of the Ottawa River and the Rideau River in the southern portion of the province of Ontario. Ottawa borders Gatineau, Quebec, and forms the core ...

** Commonwealth Memorial *** Commonwealth Missing in Action Memorial ** New Zealand Memorial – designed by Warren and Mahoney architects and built of marble from the

Coromandel Peninsula The Coromandel Peninsula ( mi, Te Tara-O-Te-Ika-A-Māui) on the North Island of New Zealand extends north from the western end of the Bay of Plenty, forming a natural barrier protecting the Hauraki Gulf and the Firth of Thames in the ...

** South Africa Memorial – the 2001 sculpture ''Reconciliation'' by South African sculptor Strijdom van der Merwe, was created as part of the

International Sculpture Symposium The International Sculpture Symposium movement was spearheaded by Karl Prantl in Austria in 1959. This initiative grew from the need to facilitate communication and exchange between members of the international sculpture community. It was also roo ...

* French Memorial – dedicated 2007 * Greek Memorial – dedicated 1961 * Interfaith memorial chapel – built by the United Nations Command in 1964 * Main gate – designed by Korean architect

Kim Joong-up Kim Joong-eop (1922–1988) was a prominent Korean architect and educator. He was born in Pyongyang as the second son of his father, Kim Yeong-pil (金永弼) and his mother, Yi Yeong-ja (李英子). He had six siblings; four brothers, and two s ...

and built by the city of Busan in 1966. The end of the eight pillars supporting the roof was designed as a bowl and a symbol representing the moment and the eternity, expressing a soft and solemn standing for the soldiers. * Memorabilia display hall – built by the UN in 1968 * Norwegian Memorial * Thai Memorial – dedicated November 2008 * Turkish Memorials I and II – dedicated 1960, 1962, and 2008 * UN Forces Monument – dedicated 1978 and refurbished in 2007 * United States Korean War Memorial – the

Frank Gaylord Frank Chalfant Gaylord II (March 9, 1925 – March 21, 2018) was an American sculptor best known for "The Column", a sculptural tableau of United States soldiers and sailors which is part of the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C. C ...

sculpture was carved from Barre Granite at the Rock of Ages Corporation in Barre, Vermont, and dedicated under the auspices of the

American Battle Monuments Commission The American Battle Monuments Commission (ABMC) is an Independent agencies of the United States government, independent agency of the United States government that administers, operates, and maintains permanent U.S. military cemeteries, memorial ...

in 2013 * The Unknown Soldiers' Pathway The Wall of Remembrance, completed in 2006, has the names of the 40,896 United Nations casualties (killed and missing) inscribed on 140 marble panels. The UNMCK maintains a website in

, English, and

Turkish Turkish may refer to: *a Turkic language spoken by the Turks * of or about Turkey ** Turkish language *** Turkish alphabet ** Turkish people, a Turkic ethnic group and nation *** Turkish citizen, a citizen of Turkey *** Turkish communities and mi ...

, which allows website visitors to post online flowers and tributary messages.

Notable graves

The cemetery contains the graves of 2,289 military personnel and 11 non-combatants. Amongst those are the graves of Bill Madden GC, third Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment, (who died as a prisoner of war), Kenneth Muir VC (killed in action in the Battle of Hill 282 while serving with the

Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders Argyll (; archaically Argyle, in modern Gaelic, ), sometimes called Argyllshire, is a historic county and registration county of western Scotland. Argyll is of ancient origin, and corresponds to most of the part of the ancient kingdom of ...

), and Philip Curtis VC,

Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry The Duke of Cornwall's Light Infantry (DCLI) was a Light infantry, light infantry regiment of the British Army in existence from 1881 to 1959. The regiment was created on 1 July 1881 as part of the Childers Reforms, by the merger of the 32nd ( ...

(killed in action in the Battle of the Imjin River while serving with the

Gloucestershire Regiment The Gloucestershire Regiment, commonly referred to as the Glosters, was a line infantry regiment of the British Army from 1881 until 1994. It traced its origins to Colonel Gibson's Regiment of Foot, which was raised in 1694 and later became the ...

). Also buried is Lt. Col.

Charles Hercules Green Charles Hercules Green (26 December 19191 November 1950) was an Australian military officer who was the youngest Australian Army infantry battalion commander during World War II. He went on to command the 3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regi ...

DSO, commander of the

3rd Battalion, Royal Australian Regiment The 3rd Battalion, The Royal Australian Regiment (3 RAR) is a mechanised infantry battalion of the Australian Army, based in Kapyong Lines, Townsville as part of the 3rd Brigade. 3 RAR traces its lineage to 1945 and has seen operational ser ...

, who was mortally wounded at

Battle of Chongju The Battle of Cheongju was a battle during the Japanese invasions of Korea (1592–98). Jo Heon attacked the Japanese-held city of Cheongju and captured it on 6 September 1592. Background Jo Heon and the monk Yeonggyu gathered a force of 2,600 ...

and died at nearby Anju. Dutch Lt. Col. Marinus Petrus Antonius den Ouden, commander of the Regiment Van Heutsz, was killed in action during Operation Roundup in 1951 and is buried with members of his regimentposthumously, den Ouden was awarded Netherlands' highest military award, the Military Order of William. In the early days of the war, journalist Christopher Buckley died from a land mine explosion, and was subsequently buried at the cemetery. Following his death in 2018, Korean War veteran and

Victoria Cross The Victoria Cross (VC) is the highest and most prestigious award of the British honours system. It is awarded for valour "in the presence of the enemy" to members of the British Armed Forces and may be awarded posthumously. It was previously ...

recipient

Bill Speakman William Speakman-Pitt, VC (21 September 1927 – 20 June 2018), known as Bill Speakman, was a British Army soldier and a recipient of the Victoria Cross, the highest award for gallantry in the face of the enemy that can be awarded to British and ...

was buried there in 2019.

Total burials

Between 1951 and 1954 there were about 11,000 burials of UN troops from 21 countries. As of 2012, there are 2,300 wards of eleven countries, including 36 of the

troops deployed to the

military bases. Because burials of seven countries' graves were retrieved back to their homeland, including Belgium, Colombia, Ethiopia, Greece, Luxembourg, Philippines and Thailand. The burials of

British Commonwealth Forces Korea British Commonwealth Forces Korea (BCFK) was the formal name of the British Commonwealth army, naval and air units serving with the United Nations (UN) in the Korean War. BCFK included Australian, British, Canadian, Indian, and New Zealand units. ...

are located in United Nations Memorial Cemetery. The numbers are 885 British troops, in accordance with the English customs of the dead.

Notes

References

External links

*
South Africa War Graves Project: South Korea

– for photographs of the cemetery in 1954 from the King's Own Royal Regiment Museum
Wikivoyage Map

UNMCK
at

WikiMapia Wikimapia is a geographic online encyclopedia project. The project implements an interactive "clickable" web map that utilizes Google Maps with a geographically-referenced wiki system, with the aim to mark and describe all geographical objects ...

* * {{Australia in the Korean War 1951 establishments in South Korea 1955 establishments in South Korea 1973 establishments in South Korea Aftermath of the Korean War Australian military cemeteries British military memorials and cemeteries Buildings and structures in Busan Canadian military memorials and cemeteries Cemeteries in South Korea Military history of France during the Korean War Korean War memorials and cemeteries Monuments and memorials in South Korea New Zealand military memorials and cemeteries South African military personnel of the Korean War Turkish military memorials and cemeteries outside Turkey Tourist attractions in Busan