USFK, Korean veterans to launch war awareness program for students By Byun Duk-kun

SEOUL, Sept. 25 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) and Seoul's Korea Veterans Association are launching a new joint program that will help American and Korean students better understand the facts behind the Korean War through meetings with those who actually fought in the conflict, the USFK said Thursday.

The new Students Meet Veterans program will start Tuesday with a trip to the
joint security area, better known as the truce village of Panmunjom, by a group
of 30 Korean War veterans and 60 American and Korean high school students,
according to a USFK official.
"The new program comes as Gen. Walter Sharp (USFK commander) has noted the need
to better educate the students on the Korean War and told his officials to
arrange a meeting between U.S. veterans and high school students at Camp
Bonifas," the official said. Camp Bonifas is the most forward deployed U.S. post
in Korea, located only 400 meters south of the demilitarized zone that divides
the two Koreas.
"The veterans supporting the program are participants of the 'Revisit Korea' tour
program sponsored by the Korea Veterans Association since 1975 to bring Korean
War veterans from 21 nations to Korea," the USFK said in a statement.
Four more student-veteran meetings are scheduled for the year, with 30 students
from the Seoul American High School and an equal number of Korean students
selected by Seoul, it said.
"The brand-new program allows Korean War veterans an opportunity to share their
experiences with the younger generation to increase their knowledge of the
history of the Korean War and to promote awareness of the blood-forged alliance
in defense of freedom on the Korean Peninsula," said the statement.
Washington currently maintains some 28,500 troops here, a legacy of the 1950-53
war. The two Koreas technically remain at war as the Korean War ended only with
an armistice, not a peace treaty.
bdk@yna.co.kr
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