On July 27 every year, the Republic of Korea marks the United Nations (UN) Forces Participation Day, a solemn day of remembrance that honours the international soldiers who fought under the UN Command during the Korean War (1950-1953). The Korean War, which claimed millions of lives, soldiers and civilians alike, was one of the first major armed conflicts of the Cold War era and emerged as a result of the ideological divide between communism and democracy after Korea was split along the 38th parallel. When war broke out between the two Koreas in June 1950, the United Nations responded with a multinational force led by the United States to defend the sovereignty of the Republic of Korea, with about 22 countries contributing to this international mission. While some countries sent combat troops, others provided medical, humanitarian, and logistical support. Many of these UN soldiers who participated in the war were young men who had never visited or even heard of Korea before the war yet they willingly fought and in some cases died to uphold the value of peace and freedom.
For many international observers and peacebuilders like myself, the UN Forces Participation Day is a day to reflect on the human cost of war and on the power of collective action in defending peace and security. In the lead-up to this year’s commemoration, on 15th July 2025, I had the opportunity to watch the 2021 documentary film, “Land of Memories, the UN Cemetery”, which was the first documentary dedicated to exploring the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. Using an anthropological lens, the film centres on personal experiences of war and mourning. Through personal interviews with some of the Korean War veterans and their families, the documentary brought to light the human realities of war, which is often lost in broader historical narratives. The documentary screening was organised as part of a special alternative session of the 6th Annual Conference of the International Association for Reconciliation Studies (IARS), held at Seoul National University (SNU) from July 14th to July 18th 2025. The session, sponsored by the Atsumi International Foundation and chaired by Dr Chungsun Lee of The University of Tokyo, was themed “Heritage of Dignity: The UN Cemetery-Remembrance and Reconciliation of the Korean War”. This commemorative panel marked both the 75th anniversary of the Korean War and the 80th anniversary of the founding of the United Nations by shedding light on the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan.
Nestled in the coastal city of Busan, the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea serves as a space to remember and pay tribute to the United Nations Forces who died during the Korean War. Established in January 1951 by the UN Command and officially designated as a United Nations Memorial Cemetery in 1955, the Busan Cemetery serves as the final resting place for approximately 2,300 soldiers from eleven countries who have their service members buried there, including the United Kingdom, Australia, Turkey, South Africa, Canada, France and New Zealand among others. In 1973, management of the cemetery was handed over to the Commission for the United Nations Memorial Cemetery. Today, the cemetery is listed as Site 359 among Korea’s Registered Cultural Heritage Sites by the Cultural Heritage Administration.
Produced by Kyungmin Lee, Head of Programming and Production at KBS Busan, the documentary film unearthed the emotional depth and historical significance of the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, the only official UN cemetery in the world. Through personal stories, historical footage, and reflections of UN veterans, the film offered a mirror through which we can confront the human cost of war and the necessity of peace. It tells the untold stories of some of the soldiers buried there, many of whom were young men who went to war under the banner of the United Nations but never returned home. Out of over 130,000 soldiers that died during the war, only about 10,000 bodies have been identified and laid to rest. The documentary also highlights ongoing recovery efforts, with over 100,000 soldiers involved annually in the careful excavation and identification of remains, as many bodies have only been recovered in fragmented form due to the fact that many years have passed since the end of the war.
The documentary film showed how the UN Cemetery has become a site for collective healing and reconciliation. For many families, the cemetery in Busan serves as a sacred space of solace and remembrance, offering them closure where none might have existed before, which is essential in the trauma healing process. Many veterans and their descendants visit to pay respects, with some travelling from different countries to connect with a past they never personally experienced. This reminds me of the important role that remembrance plays in post-conflict peacebuilding. By honouring the dead and preserving their stories, societies can promote understanding and prevent the repetition of senseless violence. In many ways, it shows how memory can be transformed into a medium for peace and reconciliation, not just between countries but also within communities grappling with the trauma of conflict.
The documentary screening was followed by an interactive discussion with the producer herself. During the interactive session, Kyungmin Lee, the producer of the documentary shared that her motivation for creating the documentary was the realisation that “we may be the last generation to hear directly from Korean war veterans”. This is because many of those who participated in the Korean War are now in their 90s, while others have since passed away, including two of the war veterans who were featured in the documentary. She stated that the documentary was created to preserve the memories of those who participated in the war and to learn from them how they would like to be remembered and celebrated. She recounted a vital moment during an interview with one of the veterans, when asked how he and his fellow soldiers would like to be remembered. His response was simple, yet profoundly moving: “Never Forget Us”. To her, the documentary is her own way of preserving war memory, honouring the sacrifices of these soldiers, and ensuring that future generations understand the human cost of war.
The documentary film helped to convey an important message, which is that “war takes everything, and what remains are only fragments- bones, memories, and unanswered questions”. Furthermore, participating in discussions around UN Forces Participation Day and engaging with narratives about the Korean War allowed me to reflect deeply on the interconnectedness of global peace efforts and the importance of inclusive memory-making, transitional justice, and truth-telling. It gave me a clearer understanding of what peace and reconciliation look like when it is rooted in justice and memory.
Here is the link to the documentary for those interested in watching it. It is available on the KBS Busan YouTube Channel: https://youtube.com/watch?v=BarOK38P1s4&si=jKuhd5lAOme3UonI
Overall, UN Forces Participation Day is not only an occasion to honour the dead, but also to renew our collective commitment to peace, dialogue, and mutual respect. As a peace scholar from Nigeria, a country with its own painful history of civil war and lingering post-war challenges, watching the documentary film about the Korean War and the UN Cemetery was an emotional moment for me as it resonated deeply with me. It gave me a greater insight into the importance of public memory, intergenerational storytelling, and honouring those who suffered or died from war/armed conflict. Unlike Korea, Nigeria have not built a robust culture of remembrance about the Nigerian Civil War as the war has remained a sensitive and under-discussed chapter in our history, one that is often silenced in public discourse and education. This culture of forgetting has hindered our journey towards sustainable peace and national reconciliation. This experience also reaffirmed my commitment to peacebuilding through storytelling and policy advocacy. It challenged me to think about how we in Nigeria and across post-conflict societies can do more to honour the past, critically engage our histories, build bridges towards a more peaceful future, and ensure that the sacrifices of our heroes past are not forgotten and that they serve as a foundation for a more just society.