Moscow, Russia - In the spirit of the Universal Peace Federation's Northeast Asia Peace Initiative, we contacted an organization in Russia that works with veterans from the north side of the front line of the Korean War: the Council of Korean War (1950–1953) Veterans.
This veterns group is establishing the first Museum of the Korean War in Russia to honor the Russian veterans of the Korean War. The museum will be located in a high school building, and they participate in patriotic programs for the young generation in order to preserve and perpetuate the memory of those who died for their country.
The museum offers opportunities to educate young people and work to heal some of the effects of long-standng conflict. At the August 30 meeting of the Korean Youth Club in Moscow, Oficerov Dmitry, coordinator of UPF's youth and humanitarian programs, spoke about UPF's Northeast Asia Peace Initiative. He called upon young Koreans in Russia to participate in solving the conflict between North and South Korea. When club members expressed interest in the initiative, a representative of the Korean War Veterans’ Council, Konstantin Zharinov, suggested that they start collecting exhibits for the Korean War museum. The hearts of the young Koreans were touched deeply by the presentation and the opportunity to contribute to the cause.
UPF's Northeast Asia Peace Initiative includes civil society initiatives supporting the peaceful reunification of the Korean Peninsula, where people with a common history, culture and language were divided by the Cold War struggle between superpowers.
It is expected that the Museum will be visited by official delegations from the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, China and other countries, and members of the UN forces who were involved in that war. The Council enjoys good partnership with the North Korea Embassy, and the veterans are regularly invited to festive events at the Embassy.
The members of the council are open to communicate with veterns' organizations from either side of the conflict. Russian veterans have already created regular connections to veterans organizations in USA. At relatives’ request, they help to obtain information about Americans who died in communist captivity.
The Council is an association of veterans of the 64th Aviation Fighters’ Corps, a military body belonging to the Air Force and Anti-aircraft Defense, participated in the fighting on the Korean Peninsula. They defended civilian objects and military facilities of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea during air raids by the UN air forces.
The Council is located in Moscow. The Chairman of the Council is Sergei Kramarenko, a Hero of the Soviet Union and a Major General of the Air Forces. As an organization, the Council of Veterans is a part of the All-Russia public organization of veterans, the “Soldiers' Brotherhood,” under the leadership of Boris Gromov, a Hero of Afghanistan and now Governor of the Moscow region.