Korean Expat Community for National Disasters

The Federal Democratic Republic of Ethiopia participated in the Korean War from May 1951 to April 1953. Emperor Haile Selassie sent his elite forces, the Imperial Bodyguard, to Korea. Ethiopians were highly regarded, as they never left the dead behind, never surrendered to the enemy, and never lost an engagement. However, there is a museum located in Chuncheon which is dedicated to the Ethiopian soldiers of the Kagnew Battalion who fought in the Korean War. The War Memorial in Addis Ababa is located inside the Ethiopian Korean War Veterans Memorial Park, right outside the Korean War Museum. There is a massive structure and 121 individual plaques honoring the fallen on which their names, ranks, ID numbers and the dates they were killed in action are etched. Approximately 3,150 Ethiopians fought in Korea, a total of 122 Ethiopian soldiers were killed, and 536 were wounded. After the armistice, almost 3,000 more defended South Korea until 1965. Ethiopia’s contributions to the United Nations effort consisted of four battalions and a company. There were no prisoners of war. Overall, as a unit, the Ethiopians never lost in combat during the war and earned the US Presidential Unit Citation. The Ethiopian soldiers also deducted a portion of their monthly salary to support Korean children orphaned by the war. I had also visited there and got to learn some history about Ethiopia. Thank you.