War Memorial of Korea

The War Memorial of Korea

Korean name
Hangul	전쟁기념관
Hanja	戰爭紀念館
Revised Romanization	Jeonjaeng ginyeomgwan
McCune–Reischauer	Chŏnjaeng kinyŏmgwan
Established	December 1993 (1993-12)
Location	Yongsan-dong, Seoul, South Korea
Type	War Memorial
Collection size	13,000 items 20,000 m2 (220,000 sq ft)
Director	Sun Young-Jae
Website	The War Memorial of Korea

War Memorial of Korea is located in Yongsan-dong, Yongsan-gu, Seoul, South Korea. It opened in 1994 on the former site of the army headquarters to exhibit and memorialize the military history of Korea. The building was built for the purpose of preventing war through lessons in wretched Korean war and for peaceful reunification (Republic of Korea and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea). The memorial building has six indoor exhibition rooms and an outdoor exhibition centre displaying war memorabilia and military equipment.

History

Outdoor exhibition area

The War Memorial was built to commemorate actors and victims in the wars which led to the modern nation state. The museum also has the purpose of educating future generations by collecting, preserving, and exhibiting various historical relics and records related to the many wars fought in the country from a South Korean perspective.

Construction

The construction of the War Memorial of Korea was completed in December 1993. The project was carried out in consultation with military experts while collecting a wide range of exhibition items at home and abroad. Upon the completion of the interior, the memorial opened officially on June 10, 1994, and became the largest landmark of its kind in the world.

Surrounding area

Entrance of the war memorial and Statue of Brothers

File:The Statue of Brothers (Seoul War Memorial).jpg

Statue of Brothers

Located on the old site of Army Headquarters, the War Memorial of Korea has four aboveground floors and two underground floors in the main building, which stands on an area of about 20,000 m² (220,000 sq ft). On the grounds around the memorial, there are loudspeakers that broadcast patriotic messages.

In cloistered left and right galleries, flanking the facade of the main building, are rows of black marble monuments inscribed with the names of those who died during the Korean War, Vietnam War, clashes with North Korea since the Korean War and of policemen who died on duty. The plaza in the museum compound has an artificial waterfall, and around it are widespread rest areas so that visitors can picnic while enjoying the pleasant landscape. In the center of the plaza stands the Statue of Brothers, the elder a South Korean soldier and the younger a North Korean soldier, which symbolizes the situation of Korea's division.

Exhibition areas

An exhibition hall

13,000 items are displayed in six halls under different themes: Memorial Hall, War History, Korean War, Expeditionary Forces, ROK Armed Forces, and Large Equipment, plus the outside exhibition area. There are weapons and equipment from prehistoric times to the modern period as well as paintings of battlefields and sculptures of notable warriors and of An Jung-geun, who assassinated a former Resident-General in Manchuria in 1909. About 100 large weapons are displayed in the outside exhibition area on the lawns around the building.

Memorial Hall

Upon entering the memorial halls, this English text is inscribed:

Inscribed on this memorial is the names of the Republic of Korea Armed Forces Soldiers and Policemen killed in the Armed Forces Activation, Korean War, Vietnam War and Counter Infiltration Operation and the United Nations Forces Soldiers killed in the Korean War.

Outdoor display area

Items on display include:

Aircraft:

• Antonov An-2
• Bell AH-1 Cobra
• Bell H-13 Sioux
• Bell UH-1 Iroquois
• Boeing B-52 Stratofortress
• Curtiss C-46 Commando
• de Havilland Canada DHC-2 Beaver
• Douglas C-54 Skymaster
• Fairchild C-123 Provider
• Grumman S-2 Tracker
• KAI KT-1 Woongbi
• Lockheed T-33
• McDonnell Douglas F-4 Phantom II
• Mikoyan-Gurevich MiG-17
• North American P-51 Mustang
• North American F-86 Sabre
• North American T-28 Trojan
• Shenyang J-6
• Sikorsky H-5
• Sikorsky H-19

Ground equipment:

• Bofors 40 mm gun
• K1 and K1A1 tanks
• K200 KIFV
• Katyusha rocket launcher BM-13-16N
• LVTP-7
• M4 Sherman
• M36 tank destroyer
• M46 Patton
• M47 Patton
• M48 Patton
• M101 howitzer
• M107 self-propelled gun
• M109 howitzer
• M110 howitzer
• M113 armored personnel carrier
• M114 155 mm howitzer
• M167 VADS
• MIM-14 Nike Hercules
• MIM-23 Hawk
• Oerlikon 20 mm cannon
• SU-76
• SU-100
• T-34
• Type 59
• Type 63 (tank)
• ZPU-4

Vessels:

• Replica of the PKM-357 patrol boat sunken during the Second Battle of Yeonpyeong
• North Korean semi-submersible captured near Dadawpo, Busan on 3 December 1983

Public transportation

Samgakji Station exit 11 or 12

Samgakji Station exit 1

Namyeong Station exit 1

News release about War Memorial of Korea

• More than half of Koreans believe that the Korean peninsula should have nuclear weapons for its own defense through the photos of nuclear weapons on the Korean peninsula displayed at the war memorial.

See also

• Gapyeong Canada Monument
• Korean War Veterans Memorial, Washington, D.C.
• Korean War Memorial, Canberra, Australia
• Korean War Memorial Wall,^map Ontario, Canada.
• National War Memorial (New Zealand)
• Seoul National Cemetery
• United Nations Memorial Cemetery, Busan, Korea

External links

• Pictures of the War Memorial of Korea
• The War Memorial's official website