Orphanage Memorial

[Anchor Lead]

More than 100,000 children became orphans during the Korean War. At the time, Turkish soldiers who participated in the Korean War as part of the United Nations Command established a home for the war orphans. Today, we will bring you to the former site of the orphanage. Let's take a look.

[Soundbite] "Ankara, Ankara, the best Ankara."

[Pkg]

Oh Soo-bok, a 74-year-old man, vividly remembers this Turkish song, although some 60 years have passed. Oh learned the song from Turkish soldiers who took care of him after losing his family while fleeing for refuge during the Korean War.

[Soundbite] Oh Soo-bok(Korean War Orphan/Age 74) : "My train could not go further, since the bridge was severed by bombing. We were separated there. As a young child, I cried out and Turkish soldiers gave me something to eat."

In 1952 when the Korean War was at its height, Turkish troops who fought in the war as part of UN forces established an orphanage for Korean war orphans. About 640 war orphans lived at the orphanage for 14 years until the last batch of Turkish soldiers left South Korea in 1966.

[Soundbite] Oh Soo-bok(Korean War Orphan/Age 74) : "They taught us songs and sent us to school. They gave us clothes imported from Japan."

Memories of the forgotten Ankara Orphanage have been renewed, as the Suwon city government set up a memorial monument and park at the former site of the facility ten years ago. Roughly 3,200 Turkish forces were killed or injured during the Korean War. The people who grew up in the orphanage regard Turkish soldiers as blood brothers.