President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sept. 19 gives the Civil Merit Medal to Victor Swift, head of the British Korean War Veterans Association in London.
By Kim Eun-young
Photos = Office of the 20th President
President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sept. 19 gave the Civil Merit Medal to Victor Swift, head of the British Korean War Veterans Association in London, before heading to New York to attend the United Nations General Assembly.
The president held a ceremony for the honor at a hotel in London and thanked Swift, saying, “Because of you, the Republic of Korea of today exists.”
The U.K. dispatched the second-largest contingent of troops to the Korean War after the U.S. Born in 1934, Swift was a corporal in the Corps of the Royal Electrical and Mechanical Engineers.
The president said, “Korea’s liberal democracy and free market economy, which led our growth and prosperity, are all thanks to people like Mr. Victor Swift, who dedicated his life as a teen to a country he had never been to and to protect the freedom of people he had never met.”
“The U.S., the U.K., Canada and countries around the world dispatched many young men to defend against communist invasion. (My) latest visits to the U.K., the U.S. and Canada in that order are very meaningful.”
President Yoon wished Swift good health and invited him to visit Korea, presenting the veteran with a presidential watch, red ginseng set and Kwangjuyo (traditional pottery brand) as gifts.
Swift said he was moved and thanked President Yoon and everyone else on behalf of other British veterans of the Korean War.
The day before arriving in London, President Yoon was supposed to lay a wreath at the Korean War Memorial but opted for this ceremony due to traffic control issues stemming from crowds paying their respects to the late Queen Elizabeth II.
President Yoon Suk Yeol and first lady Kim Keon Hee on Sept. 19 wave before boarding the presidential plane Code One at London Stansted Airport bound for New York.
eykim86@korea.kr
