Indian War Memorial Seoul 2026: Maroon Angels & Korean War

The Korean War began on 25 June 1950 when North Korean forces, backed by the Soviet Union, crossed the 38th Parallel and invaded South Korea. The UN Security Council authorised a UN Command led by the United States to repel the invasion. By 1951, Chinese forces had intervened for North Korea, creating a military stalemate. The Korean Armistice Agreement was signed on 27 July 1953, ending active combat but leaving the peninsula technically at war. The conflict resulted in an estimated 3 to 5 million casualties.

India chose not to deploy combat troops, maintaining its non-aligned stance under PM Jawaharlal Nehru. Instead, India played three distinct roles:

• Medical support — through the 60 Para Field Ambulance
• Diplomatic mediation — through the United Nations (Indian resolution adopted at UNGA in 1952 provided the framework for the Armistice Agreement)
• Post-war peacekeeping and POW repatriation — through the Custodian Force of India under the NNRC

Of the 21 UN member states that contributed to the Korean War effort, 16 sent combat units; 5 sent medical hospitals and field ambulances — India, Norway, Sweden, Denmark, and Italy.

The 60th Parachute Field Ambulance was India’s principal contribution to active Korean War operations. Originally raised in 1942 as the 60th Indian Field Ambulance, it had served in Burma during World War II. With 627 personnel — the largest medical contingent from any neighbouring or non-Western nation — the unit served for 39 months on the Korean Peninsula (1950–1954).

Commanded by Lieutenant Colonel (Dr) A.G. Rangaraj, who was awarded the Maha Vir Chakra (MVC) — India’s second-highest wartime gallantry award — the unit:

• Treated more than 222,000 patients
• Performed nearly 2,300 field surgeries under combat conditions, often under crossfire
• Established and ran four hospitals in Korea, including the first Republic of Korea Army Hospital
• Trained Korean doctors and nurses
• Received awards from India, South Korea, the United States, and the United Nations
• Unit members received six Vir Chakras in addition to Rangaraj’s MVC

After the Armistice Agreement of July 1953, the most contentious unresolved issue was the fate of approximately 170,000–200,000 prisoners of war — mostly Chinese and North Korean prisoners who refused repatriation. The UN established the Neutral Nations Repatriation Commission (NNRC) with five member states:

• India (Chair), Sweden, Switzerland — representing the Western/neutral bloc
• Poland, Czechoslovakia — representing the Communist bloc

India was unanimously selected to chair the NNRC — recognition of its international credibility as a non-aligned power. The Custodian Force of India (CFI) — a brigade-sized contingent of nearly 6,000 personnel under Major General S.P.P. Thorat — took physical custody of the non-repatriated prisoners.

The CFI’s camp at Imjingak was designated “Hind Nagar” in September 1954, housing approximately 22,000 prisoners of war. The Indian War Memorial has been constructed on this very site — where Indian soldiers once maintained peace on behalf of the United Nations.

Lieutenant General Kodandera Subayya Thimayya was appointed Chairman of the NNRC. Born on 31 March 1906 in Madikeri, Kodagu, Karnataka, he was one of India’s most decorated military officers:

• The only Indian to command an infantry brigade in battle during World War II
• India’s 3rd Chief of Army Staff (1957–1961)
• NNRC work ran from September 1953 to February 1954 — facilitating humane repatriation of POWs by apprising thousands of their rights
• Later served as UN peacekeeping commander in Cyprus
• Died in Cyprus on 18 December 1965; the Government of Cyprus issued a commemorative stamp in his honour

His bust features in the Indian War Memorial alongside Lt Col Rangaraj’s — the two faces of India’s Korean War legacy.

Imjingak Park sits near the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ) that divides North and South Korea — a deeply symbolic location. The Indian War Memorial’s 25-square-metre structure features busts of Lt Col A.G. Rangaraj and Gen K.S. Thimayya. South Korea’s Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs dedicated the entire month of May 2026 in honour of Lt Col Rangaraj.

India’s connection to South Korea’s modern nationhood goes back even further than the Korean War. In 1948, the UN appointed India as Chairman of the United Nations Temporary Commission on Korea (UNTCOK) to organise and oversee South Korea’s first-ever general elections — which led to the formation of the country’s first democratically elected government. K.P.S. Menon served as the UNTCOK Chairman.

The India–South Korea Special Strategic Partnership was established in 2015. The MoU on veterans’ affairs, covering exchange programmes and cultural preservation of shared Korean War history, adds a new institutional layer to this relationship rooted in historical memory.