New medals to honor allies in Korean War

The local minting authorities will sell new medals from Friday to honor the five countries that gave the most combat support for South Korea during the 1950-1953 Korean War.

Korea Minting, Security Printing & ID Card Operating Corp. said Wednesday that it will launch five medals for the allies, one each month for five months.

The five countries that dispatched the most soldiers were the United States, Britain, Canada, Turkey and Australia. The U.S. sent 1.789 million soldiers, followed by Britain with 56,000, Canada with 25,687, Turkey with 14,936 and Australia with 8,407.

For U.S. medals, the front features the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington, D.C., a pigeon and the Korean Peninsula. The back shows the Stars and Stripes and an English text commemorating the 60th anniversary of the cease-fire.

The medal commemorating Britain shows royal guards, a pigeon and the Korean Peninsula.

The medals are made of white gold, weigh 30 grams and are 40 millimeters in diameter. They will be sold for 30,000 won at the minting authority’s online shopping mall (www.koreamint.com).

By Chun Sung-woo  (swchun@heraldcorp.com)