The remains of a late Dutch veteran of the 1950-53 Korean War will arrive in South Korea on Monday in line with his wishes to be buried in the country, Seoul’s veterans ministry said.
A plane carrying the remains of Ferdinand Titalepta will arrive at Incheon International Airport, just west of Seoul, with the remains to be interred at the U.N. Memorial Cemetery in Busan, 320 kilometers southeast of Seoul, on Thursday, according to the ministry.
Titalepta served as part of the Netherlands’ Van Heutsz Regiment during the war after he volunteered to serve at the age of 21, the ministry said.
He sustained injuries to his right hip and thigh within a week of deployment but returned to combat and took part in the battle of Mukgok-ri in the final days of the war. Titalepta received a Dutch government medal in 1984 for his service before his death on June 8, 2023, at 90.
The Netherlands is among the 22 countries that sent troops or other forms of support to back South Korea during and right after the three-year
conflict, which ended in a cease-fire, not a peace treaty.
More than 5,000 Dutch troops were deployed during the war, with 124 being killed, according to the U.N. memorial cemetery’s website. The park is home to 2,327 veterans of the war from 13 countries, including 122 Dutch troops.
Source: Yonhap News Agency