2016-10-04 Tue

United Nations medallion recognizes the sacrifices made by UN forces during the Korean War. From 29th May 2016 to 1st June 2016, the annual convention or Rotary International was held in Seoul, Korea, when this medal was purchased.

Korea was a colony of Japan from 1910 to 1945, after which the country was partitioned. North Korea was governed by a communist dictatorship and South Korea became a pro-Western nation. From 25th June 1950 to 27th June 1953 a devastating war between the countries killed 5 million soldiers and civilians.

The United Nations Memorial Cemetery is the only cemetery in the world where the United Nations has sovereignty with almost 2,300 graves of troops from many nations.

United Nations Medallion is 1½ inches in diameter. The obverse features the logo of the UN along with the inscriptions UNITED NATIONS COMMAND, MILITARY ARMISTICE COMMISSION and two five-pointed stars. The reverse design features the texts MEMORY OF KOREA, DEMILITARIZED ZONE and clusters of 10 leaves on each side. The regional map of Korea sandwiched between China and Japan is also depicted. The mountains and the line running from northeast to southwest representing the DMZ are also shown.