S. Korea to honor Korean War U.N. troops on armistice signing day

South Korea will hold a ceremony this weekend to honor U.N. veterans who fought alongside its troops during the 1950-53 Korean War, the veterans ministry said Friday. The event is set to be attended by over 1,000 people, including 16 U.N. veterans, and will take place Saturday in western Seoul, coinciding with the 71st anniversary of the signing of the armistice that ended the fighting of the three-year conflict, according to the ministry. Some 1.98 million personnel from 22 countries were dispatched to South Korea during and right after the war under a U.N. mandate to support the South against North Korean aggression. More than 40,000 of them died, with 3,950 others missing, according to veterans ministry data. During the ceremony, South Korea will confer government awards upon eight individuals, including the late Maj. Charles J. Loring Jr. of the U.S. Air Force with the Taegeuk Order of Military Merit for destroying an enemy artillery position at the cost of his life, the ministry said. William Ernest Weber, who took part in the war as a U.S. Army captain, will be posthumously awarded the Eulji Order of Military Merit for his service and efforts to establish the "Wall of Remembrance," which bears the names of fallen American and South Korean soldiers during the war, in Washington. Source: Yonhap News Agency