S. Korea to provide 10,000 masks to Native American veterans

All News 08:45 May 18, 2020

SEOUL, May 18 (Yonhap) -- South Korea will provide 10,000 masks and other health protective items to Native Americans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War to help them combat the new coronavirus, the veterans affairs ministry said Monday.

The 70th Anniversary of the Korean War Commemoration Committee will deliver the masks and hand sanitizers to the Navajo veterans in an expression of appreciation for their contribution during the war, according to the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs.

This file photo, provided by the Consulate General of the Republic of Korea in Los Angeles, shows Navajo veterans who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War during a ceremony to deliver peace medals to the warriors in 2016. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Among some 800 Navajo men who fought in the three-year conflict, around 130 veterans are alive, it said.

"The government remembers those who made noble sacrifices to defend a strange country 70 years ago, and we hope they will proudly tell their posterity about the choice they made so many years ago," committee co-chairman Kim Eun-gi said.