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Rabat – The remains of two Moroccan soldiers who participated in the Korean War in 1950-53 have been discovered buried in the UN cemetery in Busan, Korea, the Korean embassy in Rabat announced this week.
At first glance, Korea and Morocco appear to have almost nothing in common, but a few months ago, the Korean embassy stressed in a post that historical archives had led them to believe that there were soldiers from Morocco who perished or were wounded during the Korean War.
The embassy carried out an active search alongside the Diplomatic Foundation and the High Commission for Former Members of the Resistance and Liberation Army (HCARAMAL) to identify Moroccan veterans who participated in the Korean War as well as their descendants.
In a photo exhibition held from December 9 to 24, they revealed the identity of two Moroccan veterans, Djian Julien and Mohamed Landri, second class soldiers who died on July 4, 1953 and July 18, 1952, respectively.
According to records unearthed by the embassy, Djian Julian is of a Moroccan-Jewish origins while Landri is believed to be from the city of Fez.
During the inauguration of the photo exhibition, Korean Ambassador to Morocco Keeyong Chung shed light on the forgotten chapters of the shared history between his country and Morocco, stressing, “With these findings we can officially say that Morocco took part in the [Korean] conflict.”
In an interview with Morocco World News, the ambassador stressed that the remaining task is to first “commemorate them, thank them, although they are no longer with us but we would like to thank their family members if we can find them.”
As the search is still ongoing, Ambassador Chung hopes to find more Moroccan soldiers through boosting exchanges between the veterans’ institutions of the two countries.
“With this discovery we can make this a historic record,” he added.
Blood Brothers
Despite being geographically distant, Morocco and Korea found a shared history that testifies to the spirit of sacrifice, and voluntarism of Moroccans who defended values of peace, tolerance, and cohabitation, said Mustapha El-Ktiri, High Commissioner at the HCARAMAL.
These institutions are carrying out a collective work of academic research on the shared history of people.
Titled “Morocco-Korea: Blood Brothers,” the collective work aims to introduce the recent discovery to the rising generation by shedding light on what Moroccans have done to bring people together in moments of war.
“This shared history is the basis of an exemplary, active and dynamic cooperation in the fields of Korea-Morocco shared interests,” El-Ktiri commented.
Jean Christophe Bertrand, Secretary General of the Diplomatic Foundation highlighted that the academic work will allow the youth to grasp the shared and unforgotten history beyond what is largely known among young Moroccans such as Kpop, K-dramas and K-food.
As next year marks the 60th anniversary of establishing Morocco-Korea diplomatic relations, the discovery of Moroccan veterans’ in the Korean War marks a watershed moment in their bilateral relations.
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