Widows weep at memorial ceremony

REMEMBERED: Counsellor Hongkon Kim from the Korean Embassy speaks at the unveiling of a Korean War memorial at Queen's Park on Saturday. PHOTO/BEVAN CONLEY 150815WCBRCKOR01

There were tears as a memorial to Wanganui men who fought in the Korean War was unveiled at Queen's Park on Saturday.

About 150 people attended the ceremony which had been planned for eight months.

"It went very well," Wanganui Korean Veterans' Association president Jim Nielsen said.

The names of the nearly 100 men from the district who served in Korea between 1950 and 1957 are on the plaque.

Mr Nielsen said one woman at the ceremony asked him if her late husband's name was on it. He had taken her up to it and found it for her.

"She broke down in tears," he said.

"We had a few widows there who had their late husbands' names of the plaque. There were a few little tears there."

The unveiling was the culmination of a lot of research and work. Mr Nielsen said it meant a lot to the Korean veterans.

"It was a wonderful effort by everybody," he said.

A rock was placed at the site behind the cenotaph last Tuesday before the plaque was set into it.

Veterans from throughout the North Island, as well as widows of the men who had died, and members of the Wanganui Korean Society attended. Counsellor Hongkon Kim from the Korean Embassy also spoke at the ceremony.