>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He's the leader or the president of his association, and he's a retired veteran. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> "And I am a veteran from [INAUDIBLE]." >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This association started in 1984 for the [INAUDIBLE] and Korean War Veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This association started [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] the small room. In 2004, the government allowed this building to give ... Gave this building for the veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the current population of this building is 2,005 people. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And 200 people of these people are from the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The youngest of these Korean veterans, he is 86 years old, and about 70 percent of these people can't even walk and are currently staying here. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> This room is made for the Korean Veterans for them to meet once every week on Thursday to spend their time and meet with each other. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And from the objects they gave us ...

>> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> My name is Feri Titolata. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I went to Korea in 1953. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I was injured there in June '53. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I went back to Korea, and what I now think about the situation is ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Feri was amazed at the six-lane traffic, of course the modern version of what he had seen in 1953. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> There used to be only one bridge. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And now there are 29 bridges. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> The hills were green. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> It used to be brown and bleak. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Feri remembers the nicer thing about his period there. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Seventy years of memories, it's hard to recall everything. >> What do you think is important about your comrades, the Dutch? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> We made a contribution ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> ... for the future, for the present-day. They made then the contribution for now. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I hope that everything will continue to go very well for Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> What did you do in the war? >> Oh, fight! >> As a soldier? >> I was wounded. >> Soldier? >> Yes. >> Soldier. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I would prefer not to talk about that period. >> Okay. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> I came from Indonesia to fulfill my service, and soon after I got here, I was sent to Korea as a volunteer, and this is my uniform. >> How old were you? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Twenty-two years. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Twenty-one! >> Twenty-one. >> Because his mother must sign. He was not 21. >> Oh, so he was underage, and his mother had to sign to go into service. >> And after the war, and stayed in the Army, and he retired in that uniform. >> Oh, wow! Why did you volunteer? >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> You saw adventure. >> But ... >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> But the adventure became part of your life, your career. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Yeah, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> Yes, stayed in service. >> Well, thank you for your service. >> You're welcome.

>> My name is Constansion, Jerinof Constansion. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Okay. So it's a great honor for me to see our guest, Ms. Hannah, and I'm very glad that she came here to Moscow because she's doing the same work that I'm doing here in Russia. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So I started my project in 2009. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> That was the 60-years anniversary of the beginning of the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> In the USA, the Korean War is called the forgotten war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And in Russia just as well. Nobody knows anything about it. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So even children and grandchildren of the people who participated in the Korean War do not know that their dad or their granddad participated in this war, or maybe they know something, but they do not know any details. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And the reason was that every veteran of the Korean War signed a document where he promised not to disclose state secret. [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Not many people participated in that war if we compare the number of participants with the number of those who participated in future wars of the Soviet Union, and that's why the public didn't get really interested in that war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And another reason is that our ally that is North Korea also didn't like to speak about the role of the Soviet Union in that war. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> That's why in 2009, I decided to make a project that would make this information more public. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So it happens so that at that time, the veterans of the Korean War decided to establish their own museum, and I offered them my help as a designer. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So that is the way I started the public project, and also I established a special Internet site where I was thinking about different events of the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> That became known, and in February 2010, I was offered to prepare special edition of this magazine that was almost completely devoted to the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So in this magazine, you can find my program statements, so my ideas, my actions, and also have I've put in different specialist, paleontologists and historians. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And after that, I started doing other things, things devoted to different memorials for this war and also in the territory of North Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And now I want a monument to be made in the territory of North Korea, and if the authorities allow me to do it, then I'm going to collect funds for this monument. This monument will be established at the place of death of our soldiers. [ Chatter ] >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. This photograph, [FOREIGN LANGUAGE]. >> It's not me. It's Kim Ursan with the veterans. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And I think that in this photo, there are only two veterans of the Korean War: this one and this one. This is General Komerenka. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And this is Yevgeny Pepelyaev, one of the best pilots of the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> And this magazine was prepared to the anniversary of the finish of the Korean War. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> Here, there is an interview of the veteran who is going to come tomorrow. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So I invited him to come to South Korea, and after that, he was called a traitor, and no one wanted to talk to him. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> So he's a pioneer for the united Korea. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He doesn't share many of radical views to the Korean War, and that's why he's such an interesting person. >> [FOREIGN LANGUAGE] >> He also think that a united Korea is inevitable.

>> Well, my name is Kevin Collin Joseph Berriman, commonly known as Col. I joined the Army on the 25th of October 1951, on my 17th birthday, as the Korea War was waging at that time. However, as I was underaged, at 17, you weren't allowed to go into active service until you were 19. So therefore, the first 2 years of my Army life was spent waiting to go to Korea, in fact. I finally made it just after the Armistice when I went back for a second tour on the line. When we arrived, we did not have to put up with the shelling and the major fighting patrol activity, however, when I arrived my immediate thought was the sympathy for the people, and most of the populous was in starvation at that time. It was a terrible time for the South Korean people. When we arrived, there was still activity up on the DMZ. We established the demarcation zone, and our main activity at the time was patrolling inside the zone, which was allowed in those days. We patrolled one side, and the Chinese, who were still there, patrolled the other side, and we used to to wave to each other occasionally in the center. There was still activity with North Korea crossing the border on several occasions. Of course, we had to keep the whole area fortified, and I served there for approximately 12 months in that activity. There were several clashes on the border at that time, and I was injured during one of them where we had to chase some suspects. We chased them into a mine field. Well, we didn't ever find out who they ... I'll have to stop. Anyway, we never got to catch the four that we were chasing. We saw them, nearly caught them, but they went into a mine field, and we stopped the chase, but sadly saw them ... Well, we couldn't interview them because there was nothing left of them to interview after that. During the chase, I sadly fell down a ravine, and I didn't know it at the time, but I'd fractured my spine, and really I was out of action for some weeks after that. I spent time in hospital, and then came back to Korea for a short time where we engaged in more patrol activities, especially along the DMZ. Then my time was up in Korea, and I was hospitalized again, but over in Japan while I was in hospital, I was approached by the public relations officer. They wanted somebody to look after the office in Japan for a while, and they recruited me as a junior noncommissioned officer in the public relations office, where we were engaged in photography of Operation Glory, which was where the exchange of the dead occurred. We were receiving our dead, which had been buried in North Korean graves before the establishment of the static war lines on the Kansas Line on the 38th parallel. And also, we were working returning North Korea and Chinese dead at that time. I was engaged in the fringes of that, mainly working with a photographer that was taking photos of the Operation Glory activities. Some of them are still in the memorial at the present time, when our dead were coming back, and we were sending dead back over to North Korea. I left Japan in July 1955, so I was over there for almost 2 years, and I came back to Australia. Korea had finished with then. I was just due to go over to the mine action, the emergency which was occurring over there, but was found to be, because of my injuries, no longer suitable for the infantry or active service. I retired from the Army in 1957 under the care of our Department of Veteran's Affairs, who really have cared for me since I was 22 years old. I was re-educated through our Department of Veteran's Affairs, became an accountant with a university degree and worked with the public service for a further 25 years until my injuries caught up with me again at the age of 48 when I was retired from public work. Since then, I've had another career of volunteer work for the ex-service community, mainly in welfare and bereavements, and that's it. >> So can you tell us a little bit about how many veterans in Australia are still remaining? >> Sadly ... Can we stop for a moment? You asked me, Hannah, how many veterans are left in Australia. There were 17,850 served in Korea from 1950 until 1956. Now, as of October last year, there were less then 3,000 of us still alive. To be in fact, there was only 2,700. They're dying very quickly. At the present time, there would be no more than 2,400 of us left. Now, I can also give you some casualty figures of those that we lost. Those that paid the supreme sacrifice during their service in Korea was a total of 356 who lost their lives, 340 before the cease fire on July 1953, and 18 after the uneasy armistice that occurred on that date. Is there anything else that you would like? >> POWs, missing in action? >> Missing in action, we still have 42 that are missing in action, about half from pilots that were lost, mostly in the North. Only one that we haven't recovered in South Korea. The rest of the missing in action are Army personnel mostly in the DMZ, which nobody can find in any case, even to this day. We suspect that some of those pilots that were lost in the North could have gone back on recoveries that have occurred by the Americans. It's a possibility that they could have some of them in Hawaii. We're investigating this matter at the present time by organizing a memorandum of understanding with the American authorities. Those that were recovered, of course, are all in the Hawaii cemetery, the beautiful American cemetery in Hawaii. I think it's called the Punchbowl. Perhaps they could be, but it's very doubtful if any of the 22 Army personnel are there. They're mostly still in the demilitarized zone. There's thousands of Chinese still there, and Americans, many thousands of them, still missing. That's about all that we can say about the MIAs. Under the current regime in North Korea, I don't think we'll ever recover any more of those. Anyway, it's so long ago now, what, over 60 years. What's to recover? >> How about POWs? Australian POWs? >> POWs, there are very few of them alive now. I can't tell you the exact ... We had probably over 20, 25. Some of them died in captivity, three of them, to my mind. I don't know whether we have any still alive at the present time. I think there was about less than 30 we had POWs in Australia. What else? >> What do you think is significant about Australian contribution in the Korean War? >> What? >> Australia's contribution in the Korean War unlike other countries? For example, on top of my head, I could think of is the Australians contributed all the ... >> Well, for our size, we contributed quite a lot, especially ... You've heard some stories from two of our pilots, both from the Navy and from our own 77 Squadron, who flew there. Our Army contribution, of course, was three infantry battalions, which for our population at that time, 17,850 of us served, so for our small population of seven million was ... Our actions, of course, in the infantry we contributed to several major battles: the taking of Maryang-san, which during the static war was ... Although we took it in October 1951, it was lost shortly after, unfortunately, but Maryang-san was the main Chinese outpost on the Jamestown Line. That was a major battle. The Battle of Kapyong, of course. Australians and the Canadians held the line at Kapyong during the big Chinese offensive of 1951, in April 1951. The Australian battalion 3 RAR held the Chinese offensive during that time long enough, for 3 days, for them to establish the defenses around Seoul, which stopped the Northern advance. And then, of course, the static war period happened shortly after that in October 1951, where the war stayed until the armistice just about the 38th parallel. For a small force of 17,000, as I said, we lost almost 400 killed in action. Many of us were wounded and injured, like myself, I suppose. I was one of the injured. Anyway, that's about all I can say really. It was a long time ago. My main thoughts and feelings during the time that I served was heart rending. I was so sad to see the population starving, especially children, which upset me very much as a young man. All that I can say is my ... The sacrifice that the South Korea people paid was enormous, and they must be congratulated for how they've lifted themselves up after that disastrous time to such a prosperous country that it is today, and I'm very proud to be concerned with the recovery of Korea. They've done a wonderful job. That's about all. I can't think of anything else. I get bad thoughts when I think of what the people suffered. It was a terrible, terrible time for them. Terrible thing to see. We helped them as much as we could, of course, but we couldn't feed the whole population. Anyway, that's it.

>> My name is Peter Berger. I served in Korea in 1952 but not a long time. Most of the time, I was in headquarters. From Korea, which as I said, wasn't a very long time, I was sent in Japan and was in [INAUDIBLE] in Japan. Actually, the second time, it was over in [INAUDIBLE], and we spent our time running up and down the hills. We got very fit, but while [INAUDIBLE] I sent out the signals, and I used to work on the switchboard or phones or whatever was needed. And from Korea, I went to Japan, as I said, and I spent quite some time there, and then we were sent to Singapore. And in Singapore, I saw advertised, people saying that they needed NGOs to volunteer for the Gurkhas. So I volunteered for the Gurkha, and I went out of the country to a place called Seremban, and I spent the rest of my time there serving with the Gurkhas. Then I was sent home, and I really didn't want to go home because I was quite enjoying myself, and you might think I did fly home, and I had to leave most of my stuff that I had collected over the time, all of it there, including beautiful Gurkha khukuri. You know the big knife? So I had to leave that one there too, but I already said it all. >> Okay, but I still wanted you on camera.

– Yo me llamo Hernando Villegas Hurtado, viajé a Corea impulsado por la aventura, porque en todas las noticias y todo lo que nosotros sabíamos que Corea era de la guerra, y nos, a mí particularmente, me entusiasmó mucho viajar hasta allá, y fui voluntario. Salimos a finales de septiembre de 1952, y regresamos en octubre de 1953. Yo con el… estuvimos… después del entrenamiento, yo entré al batallón de sanidad, era enfermero, fui enfermero, y pasé todo el tiempo en… atendiendo heridos y rescatando muertos. Destaco de todo eso, pues, también el cerro 180, que me tocó sacar un poco de gente de allá, y, por supuesto, el Old Baldy, que también fue bastante duro, pero, sobre todo, los 12 días que nosotros permanecimos en el Old Baldy, desde el 10 de, desde el 10 de marzo hasta el 23. Esos para mí fueron un infierno, porque todos los días, de día y de noche, hubo fuego de artillería de los coreanos. En ese tiempo estaban tratando de ganar terreno por la proximidad que existía del armisticio, entonces, querían estar en buena posición, tengo entendido yo, buena posición geográfica para que les rindiera más el terreno. Fue muy duro para mí, demasiado duro, tan duro hasta las lágrimas, porque me tocó rescatar a varios compañeros que eran muy amigos, sacar muchos heridos, y participar en dos o tres patrullas… una patrulla que llaman de reconocimiento y escucha que llegaba a un valle a donde podíamos dispararle con la pistola a los chinos, porque casi todos eran chinos en ese momento, y entonces, pues, fue muy duro esa semana, esa semana no, esos 12 días, 12 días que permanecimos nosotros, no se me van a olvidar nunca en mi vida. Pero también, pues, las enseñanzas que uno va derivando de todo lo que le pasó. Afortunado que no me dieron, afortunado porque… porque gracias a la, estar en Corea cambió totalmente mi vida. Cuando yo vivía aquí en Colombia, vivía en un pueblo, en una ciudad que llaman Pereira, pero, pues, no sabía hacer nada, trabajaba con papá en labores propias de, del campo, y el viaje a Corea cambió totalmente, totalmente todo, yo todavía me… me maravilla el cambio que dio mi vida, el cambio que le pude dar a mi familia. Pero fue por la fortuna de haber viajado, más bien por la aventura, pero después fue una enseñanza, fue una enseñanza. Ya cuando llegamos ambas Coreas estaban arrasadas, la una por la invasión de los coreanos del norte y por la invasión china, y los otros por la, por repeler la invasión y llegar casi hasta el río Yalu con el generalMacArthura la cabeza.En mi, en mi parecer, si quiera salió MacArthur, porque posiblemente habría armado una tercera guerra mundial. MacArthur era guerrerista, y quería salir, no sé si habrá oído hablar de él, pero era un, un general que tenía mucha influencia, no solamente en Estados Unidos, si no en todo el mundo era muy respetado. Y entonces, pues, él quería seguir la guerra hasta arrojar a los chinos a su China e invadir parte de China. Eso no ocurrió. ¿Y qué, y qué enseñanza ha sacado uno de allá? Pues, sencillamente que todos perdimos. Perdió Corea del Sur, perdió Corea del Norte. Hubo millones de… yo no sé cuántos millones puedan haber perdido la vida allá, y cuántos heridos, pero muchos, fue muchos. Y, y quedamos en las mismas, solo que Corea del Norte y Corea del Sur estaban arrasadas, totalmente arrasadas. Yo tuve la oportunidad de viajar a Corea ahora en noviembre. Transformada totalmente, increíble el avance que ha tenido Corea, y eso me hace sentir muy orgulloso y muy complacido de que, de que haya, en primer lugar, que nos hayan invitado, estoy muy contento. Fui con, con dos hijos, entre ellos una, una niña, estuvieron encantados, muy contentos. Y, y, por su puesto, supremamente agradecidos de las atenciones y de la forma como se portaron con nosotros admirablemente. Ambos muchachos, pues, ya no son muchachos, ya son viejos, bueno, ambos muchachos salieron contentísimos con el viaje, muy maravillados y muy contentos. Y se consideran que, es la mejor experiencia que han tenido en la vida. Pero, particularmente, yo pienso que, sigo pensando que la guerra, todas las guerras son malas. Yo soy pacipista, pacipista a morir. Y, normalmente, las guerras las hacen las potencias. Por países pequeños como Colombia, o como Corea en ese tiempo… sí… de esas potencias. Estados Unidos que quería seguir interviniendo en Corea, lo hizo muy bien, y de Rusia y China que querían también intervenir en Corea del Norte. Ambos países tenían sus motivos políticos, aunque no motivos humanos. Eso como que no les interesaba, absolutamente nasa. Ver a un, a una persona, a un soldado o a varios soldados incendiados con napalm, eso es una experiencia aterradora, aterradora. Uno dice: “¿Cómo puede ocurrir algo así? ¿Cómo puede ocurrir algo que, así, que, que un humano le esté tirando candela o gasolina o napalm a otro ser humano y que arda en llamas?”. Me duele mucho haber visto eso, no quisiera haberlo visto. Por otra parte, estoy suprema, supremamente agradecido con Corea. Y no solamente porque, pues, con la forma que me ha tratado, si no como le ha ayudado al gobierno y al país, con obras, con educación, con muchas cosas que nosotros no teníamos, pero que Corea nos ha, nos ha brindado, especialmente en el aspecto, por ejemplo, el, con Coica, por ejemplo. Coica es una magnífica entidad, y nos va a servir mucho a nosotros… de Bogotá, en diferentes partes del país, y aquí mismo en Bogotá, con el hospital para… ¿qué más le cuento yo? Muy contento, una experiencia, pero lo mejor es que. Yo fui casi analfabeta a, o mejor dicho, analfabeta, a Corea, y el regreso de Corea me permitió que me recibieran en una buena empresa, que estuviera, que terminara mi primaria, mi bachillerato y la universidad, y que en este momento esté en una situación, digamos, cómoda y tranquila. Vivo muy muy muy agradecido de Corea, muy contento de haber ido. Y no tengo si no agradecimientos totales para con todos ustedes, para todos. Y mis hijos sí que lo tienen. Todos están muy contentos y, sobre todo, muy orgullosos.

– Mi nombre es Carlos Guillermo la Torre Franco, pertenezco a la Asociación Colombiana de Veteranos en la Guerra de Corea. Me fui en el año 52, salimos de Colombia y llegamos a Corea en el año 53 en el mes de enero. Estuvimos en entrenamiento hasta el mes de marzo y luego entramos al primer batalla de, de ese contingente en el marzo del 53. El 10 de marzo de 1953, asaltamos el cerro 180 ocasionándole a los chinos y a los coreanos del norte grandes bajas. Salimos de ahí y entramos al Old Baldyel 13 de marzo de 1953 hasta el 23 de marzo, que fue cuando hubo la batalla más grande que ha tenido el batallón Colombia hasta la fecha. Y de ahí salimos a reserva, yo fui herido el 23 en las horas de la noche y salí al otro día el 24, caminé hasta la 1:00 de la tarde, hasta que me recogió un tanque y me echó para el batallón, donde me enviaron en ambulancia hasta Seúl al… hospital, allá en Seúl. Allá duré, aproximadamente, un mes, y me iban a devolver para Colombia, pero me devolvieron para la primera línea, porque, como fue tan delicada la batalla, el batallón quedó diezmado, y hubo necesidad de reforzar con los heridos que ya estaban alentados. Estuvimos hasta el mes de noviembre del 53, cuando regresamos a Colombia, llegando aquí el 24 de diciembre de 1953. Yo continué en el ejército y estuve en tratamiento ambulatorio hasta el año, hasta el mes de septiembre del 54, aproximadamente, donde me trasladaron para el departamento Tolima, donde estaba la violencia, o sea, el problema de las FARC, en esa época muy delicado en esa zona del país. Permanecí hasta el año de 1955, donde solicité mi… baja, y me dieron de baja el primero de enero, primero de febrero de 1955. Y ahí me retiré, estuve trabajando en la contraloría de la república, después entré a trabajar a Cervecería Andina, una de las empresas cerveceras que había aquí en esa época, fuera de lo que es Bavaria. De ahí salí y trabajé durante 18 años en, en la Cervecería Andina, y luego, pasé a la fábrica de muebles Artecto, que era una de las fábricas más grandes que había en Suramérica. De ahí me retiré y entré a trabajar al Hipódromos de Colombia. Ese es un hipódromo que queda en el norte de Bogotá. De ahí salí y me contrataron para Costa Rica, la república de Costa Rica. Estuve de, de jefe de seguridad industrial allá en Costa Rica. Después de ahí entré a trabajar con el COE, Cuerpo de Ingenieros de los Estados Unidos en la elaboración del aeropuerto antinarcóticos en el departamento del Tolima, en la ciudad de Mariquita, Tolima. Trabaje ahí 6 años, hasta que terminamos el aeropuerto. De ahí salí, de ahí la empresa me mandó para el… a la hechura de unos puentes que se hicieron allá, y después ya estuve en una petrolera en Agua Azul. ¿Deseas algo más?
– ¿Qué recuerdas de Corea?
– Yo… nosotros éramos muy jóvenes… yo cumplí los 19 años allá. Nosotros, la mayoría, yo fui trasladado porque yo era suboficial. Nosotros, la mayoría fue voluntario. Después de que estuvimos acá, sí nos preguntaron quiénes queríamos ir y quiénes no. Ya estando en la escuela de infantería todos fuimos voluntarios. Cuando nosotros, el batallón Colombia, estaba fundado, nosotros pertenecíamos a la compañía de reemplazos del batallón Colombia. Cuando nosotros salimos de Bogotá, ya estábamos directamente a órdenes de las Naciones Unidas. El batallón Colombia era una de las unidades de los 20 países que fuimos a Corea que pertenecíamos a las Naciones Unidas. El batallón Colombia trabajaba independiente, únicamente recibían las órdenes del comando batallón y la transmitía a, pero directamente, los oficiales comandantes de nosotros colombianos. Nosotros somos… cuando estábamos en reserva teníamos el acompañamiento de intérpretes coreanos. Me acuerdo que le decíamos Oscar al nombre de él le decíamos Oscar.
– Sí.
– …no solamente hacían las veces de intérpretes, si no también controlaban al personal de trabajadores coreanos y nos ayudaban en el, en el aseo en el campamento, y otras, otras, otras cosas que hacían. De ahí para acá, cuando regresamos hasta la presente, pues, yo veo muy agradecido con Corea, porque la única, el único país que nos ha ayudado a nosotros, porque creo que Colombia es el único país que no ha ayudado a sus veteranos. Puedes preguntar a Etiopía que hay más pobres que en Colombia y ellos tienen muy bien las ventajas. Nosotros no teníamos, ni siquiera, el servicio médico del hospital militar. Colombia no nos ha reconocido completamente nada. Hemos pasado varios proyectos al congreso y nos los han echado para atrás. Entonces, nosotros queremos a Corea, porque Corea nos está ayudando en la educación de nuestros nietos. Cuando lo mismo que Samsung, Samsung, la república de Corea y otras empresas coreanas… nos colabora. La asociación vive de lo que nosotros mismos aportamos mensualmente. Porque, si no fuera así, ella habría desaparecido. En este momento tenemos muchos compañeros, porque todos estamos viejos y enfermos, y aquí no ha habido un gobierno que nos haya colaborado en lo más mínimo. Nosotros tenemos muchas ilusiones, y yo estuve hace cuatro en Corea, estaba visitándola. Está transformada totalmente, de lo que conocimos a lo que es hoy en día, es unas ciudades extraordinarias, muy bonitas. La gente coreana es muy agradecida con nosotros, en la calle, donde nos encuentran nos abrazan, nos dan las gracias siempre en todas partes. Ahora, nosotros nos sentimos hermanos de, de ustedes los coreanos, y siempre decimos el hermano coreano, porque eso, eso, eso es lo que sentimos nosotros. El cariño que les tenemos al pueblo coreano, y creo que el pueblo coreano también nos tiene mucho cariño a nosotros.
– ¿Y qué quiere del futuro de Corea? Porque la guerra no termina.
– Yo sé, el problema que hay todavía con Corea del Norte no se ha terminado, porque la firma del Armisticio, que no fue la paz, entonces, yo estaba en la época que se firmó el Armisticio, y el día que se firmó el Armisticio, nos saludábamos con los chinos, “Hey, China”, “Hey, Colombia”. Por fuera de las, de las casamatas y todos encima de ellos nos saludábamos, los teníamos cerca. Y de las 2 veces, el primer intento que hubo de cese al fuego, también me cogió a mí allá, y el segundo también, que fue la firma del Armisticio, que fue en Panmunjom. Allá entregaron a los prisioneros colombianos y Colombia entregó, las Naciones Unidas entregaron a los prisioneros coreanos del norte. Son unas ciudades extraordinarias, el comercio es muy grande, Corea tiene un futuro extraordinario, hay muchas empresas, mucho empuje, la gente es muy educada, porque el papá de la presidenta que fue un presidente un poco duro, impulsó mucho el, el, el comercio y la industria allá en Corea. Para nosotros es muy interesante y me siento muy orgulloso de ver que Corea ha progresado demasiado, porque nosotros nos dimos cuenta cuando nosotros llegamos, que Corea era muy pobre, demasiado pobre, entonces, el pueblo fue el que pagó las consecuencias de la pobreza que tenía, hasta hoy en día que es la tercera, la décima potencia industrial del mundo. ¿Qué más se puede pedir de ustedes?
– Gracias por muchísimo. Perfecto, perfecto.