[UNFORGOTTEN HEROES] Norway brought lifesaving touch to Korea

Bloodied tanks from the front lines being hauled onto Norwegian vessels at Heungnam. Jokes exchanged with Korean soldiers in a futile attempt to forget the death and destruction. Nights spent taking turns singing Arirang and Per Spellemann...

Anne Kari H. Ovind, ambassador of Norway to Korea, speaks with the Korea JoongAng Daily at the Norwegian Embassy in Seoul on Monday. She holds a book about Norwegian participation in the 1950-53 Korean War published by the Norwegian Korean War Veterans Association and the embassy. [PARK SANG-MOON]

The Korean War, which raged from 1950 to 1953, was a crucial Cold War milestone as a fratricidal war between the two Koreas evolved into an intense proxy battle between the superpowers. Some 2 million personnel from over 20 countries came to Korea's aid, risking their lives fighting on the front lines and tending to the fallen. As Korea marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war, the Korea JoongAng Daily asked veterans, their relatives and government ministers about efforts to commemorate the conflict, the war's geopolitical consequences and its relevance in today's politically and militarily polarized world. — Ed.

Bloodied tanks from the front lines being hauled onto Norwegian vessels at Heungnam. Jokes exchanged with Korean soldiers in a futile attempt to forget the death and destruction. Nights spent taking turns singing Arirang and Per Spellemann, folk songs from Korea and Norway.

These are but snippets of what came to define the two countries’ friendship over 70 years ago.

“It’s a reminder of the importance of international solidarity, which is more important than ever,” said Ambassador of Norway to Korea, Anne Kari H. Ovind, speaking with the Korea JoongAng Daily on Monday.

A total of 623 Norwegians served at the field hospital Normash, short for Norwegian Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, between June 1951 and October 1954.

Many came volunteering to fight for a nation they knew hardly anything about.

“Norway had experiences with foreign invasions and occupations, that while many of us may not have known about Korea at the time, we all knew what it must have been going through,” wrote Bernhard Paus, a military doctor from Norway, in one of his letters to his grandchildren recalling his participation in the 1950-53 Korean War.

To trace the footsteps of Norwegians who made a difference for South Korea as it marks the 70th anniversary of the end of the war this year, the Korea JoongAng Daily spoke with Ambassador Ovind recently.

━ From the ashes of World War II

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“But one by one, they would come less and less, until they were found among the remains headed to the morgue.”

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When North Korea invaded the South on June 25, 1950, the United Nations decided in just two weeks to send forces to fight for the South.

Leading the effort was Trygve Halvdan Lie from Norway, the secretary-general of the United Nations at the time.

“The situation of the Korean people made a very deep impression on the Norwegian population, including Norwegian politicians at the time,” said Ovind. “After the UN Security Council mobilized support, the Norwegian government decided to send a mobile field hospital to Korea.”

Norway, like many of its neighbors in Europe, had just finished recovering and rebuilding from World War II, during which it lost over 10,000 lives.

This experience taught them the importance of lifesaving work.

Doctors of Normash, short for Norwegian Mobile Army Surgical Hospital, operate on a patient. The photo is from the book, "Normash-Korea ivare hjerter," published by the Norwegian Korean War Veterans Association and the Norwegian Embassy in Seoul. [EMBASSY OF NORWAY IN KOREA]

Equipped with enough beds and staff members to conduct as many as 64 surgeries a day, the hospital would treat over 90,000 patients from over 20 countries though 1954, including 5,200 Americans and more than 4,800 South Koreans, at least 2,700 of whom were civilians.

Given the hospital’s proximity to the front lines and its role as a first responder, its staff found it hard to escape the reality of death.

Nils S. Egelien, who served at the hospital, alluded to this in his journal entry in December 1952: “Some soldiers who got injured from Hill 355 come and go at the hospital like it’s their home.

“But one by one, they would come less and less, until they were found among the remains headed to the morgue.”

Purposed to be located within a few miles of the front lines of the battle, Normash moved twice, from Uijeongbu north of Seoul to Dongducheon, Gyeonggi by the end of the war.

Norwegian veterans of the 1950-53 Korean War with a Korean assistant. [EMBASSY OF NORWAY IN KOREA]

━ Reconnections

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“For many of these veterans and their relatives, Korea has never quite left their hearts."

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Medical support from Norway to Korea did not end with the war.

Some of the Norwegian medical staff members chose to stay on and join the multilateral effort with Denmark, Sweden and Korea to build the National Medical Center in Seoul.

The center marked its 65th anniversary this year, with cooperation expanding to the fields of medicine and biotechnology.

“One of the first groups I received from Norway upon my ambassadorship in Korea was a delegation from the Norwegian parliament, inquiring after the innovative and smart health care system of Korea,” she said.

As both countries have rapidly aging populations, with around 18 percent of the population aged 65 or above, the delegation was particularly interested in the development and adoption of technology for elderly care.

Family members of Norwegian veterans of the Korean War have also continued to reconnect with Korea over the years.

Reidar Tveit, who served in the Korean War as a second engineer on one of the three Norwegian vessels to transport tanks and other military equipment to and from the front lines, died in an accident during the war.

One of three Norwegian fatalities during the war, he remains the sole Norwegian buried at the UN Memorial Cemetery of Korea in Busan.

Tveit’s family members visited Korea in July to attend the 70th anniversary of the end of the Korean War in Busan.

“For many of these veterans and their relatives, Korea has never quite left their hearts,” said Ovind.

The flags of Norway and Red Cross set up in Dongducheon, Gyeonggi, during the Korean War. The photo was part of those taken by veterans of Norway and Sweden, dedicated to the United Nations Peace Memorial Hall. This photo was taken by Ingvar Svensson. [YONHAP]

BY ESTHER CHUNG [chung.juhee@joongang.co.kr]