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Stories of veteran service and sacrifice straight from the people driving today’s most important veterans causes and veterans organizations around the world. The show shines a spotlight on their inspiring projects making a real difference for veterans and their families, and along the way we'll hear the stories that drive them to do their best every day as they work to support veterans and their memory.
00:00:06:01 - 00:00:36:18
Speaker 1
Hey, it's Matthew Cudmore and welcome to Story Behind the Stone. On today's episode, we're joined by John Bocskay, Director of International affairs at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan, South Korea. Join us as we explore the unique history of the only United Nations cemetery on the planet and discuss the cemetery, 75th anniversary in April 2026. Tune in to hear John share what it's like to facilitate Final Wish interments for veterans from many different nations, and why it's important that we continue to honor those who served and sacrificed during the conflict.
00:00:36:20 - 00:00:48:08
Speaker 1
John, thanks for coming on the show to share more about this very special cemetery and to our listeners. Thanks for tuning.
00:00:48:10 - 00:01:07:15
Speaker 1
Hello and welcome to Story Behind the Stone, a show where we talk service, sacrifice and story, connecting with the people, changing the way the world remembers and commemorations and history. I'm so pleased to welcome to the show today, Mr. John Bocskay, Director for international affairs with the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Korea. John, it's wonderful to chat with you today.
00:01:07:17 - 00:01:10:21
Speaker 2
Yeah, likewise. Thanks for having me. It's a real pleasure to be here.
00:01:11:02 - 00:01:24:00
Speaker 1
Oh, it's great to chat with you all the way across the Pacific. Would love just to give, listeners a 30,000ft view of where you are in the world and a little bit about yourself and your role at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery.
00:01:24:02 - 00:01:44:21
Speaker 2
Well, we are in Busan, South Korea. So in on the southeast coast, my role at the cemetery said, director of international affairs. It's a bit of a mixed bag. It's kind of an evolving position. But one big part of my job, involves working with the International commission that owns and governs the cemetery. I'd be happy to speak more about that later.
00:01:44:22 - 00:02:06:19
Speaker 2
Acting as a kind of a liaison between the cemetery office and that group, as well as international organizations who have any kind of business with us, with official visits, delegations, commemoration ceremonies, interment ceremonies. And then, as the only native English speaker here, you know, my other colleagues are Korean. I've sort of become the, the default sort of in-house editor slash copywriter.
00:02:06:19 - 00:02:20:04
Speaker 2
So I do a lot of our English language content. You name it, you know, reports, correspondence, meeting summaries, agendas, whatever they kind of throw at me. So, they, they managed to keep me pretty busy.
00:02:20:06 - 00:02:45:18
Speaker 1
Could you explain the unique nature of the cemetery as the only United Nations cemetery in the world? It's really only by a quirk of history that this cemetery exists. I mean, the Korean War itself almost didn't happen. The UN now, you know, they do peacekeeping missions, which are much more limited in scope. But the Korean War was it was the first time, and it was also the last time that the UN essentially fought as a combatant in a war.
00:02:45:22 - 00:03:06:08
Speaker 1
This unique nature of the cemetery, it's partly a function of that. There's this this multinational force that the UN another part of the story, it concerns just how the war itself played out. Like I mentioned earlier, you know, there were several cemeteries in the first months, and then it was consolidated to one, and it was mainly for security and logistical reasons.
00:03:06:08 - 00:03:28:16
Speaker 1
They wanted a cemetery that would not be captured or lost or abandoned or, and also one with good logistical supplies. And then, you know, after the Korean War, you never really had the UN fighting as a combatant again. So we have this one UN cemetery in Korea, and there there is no other anywhere else. And, you know, hopefully, won't ever be a need for another one.
00:03:28:17 - 00:03:31:07
Speaker 1
Very likely we'll never be another UN cemetery.
00:03:31:09 - 00:03:36:19
Speaker 1
Tell us a little bit about how you ended up there and what resonates with you and your work that you're doing there every day.
00:03:36:21 - 00:03:56:22
Speaker 2
Well, I been living in South Korea for many years prior to working here as a teacher and writer, and this position opened in 2017. I have been here many times as a visitor. It's a really, as you say, it's a unique place. Special place. I've always had an interest in history. I did my bachelor's degree in history, and I just happened to hear that the position opened.
00:03:56:22 - 00:04:18:14
Speaker 2
I guess that's about nine years ago. And, I just jumped on it and applied and, they, you know, they liked me. They hired me. And I've been here ever since. I feel very fortunate to have landed here, very different from what I was doing before. But it just it ticked so many boxes for me, you know, the history, still a lot of writing involved and and just meeting so many people from around the world.
00:04:18:14 - 00:04:22:09
Speaker 2
I'm very happy. I feel very privileged to have, landed here.
00:04:22:10 - 00:04:28:17
Speaker 1
Can you give us a little context into the the makeup of the cemetery and the reason for the cemeteries establishment?
00:04:28:20 - 00:05:03:07
Speaker 2
You know, it was created during the Korean War to be a like the cemetery for UN forces. You know, the war kicked off in June of 1950, and those first two months were a bit chaotic in terms of like, how casualties were processed. It was sort of an evolving system. And I guess the nutshell history would be that, you know, in those first say, six months, there were about a dozen cemeteries created here and there, and then there were just sort of isolated burials of soldiers was, you know, with these remotely placed units, they would have casualties.
00:05:03:07 - 00:05:23:06
Speaker 2
They would give the soldiers as dignified a burial as they could sort of all over the place. So anyway, long story short, in January of 1951, they decided to create one consolidated cemetery for UN forces. They chose this location in Busan. It was very far from the fighting and, it had a good logistical setup. It has rail connections and a port.
00:05:23:06 - 00:05:35:10
Speaker 2
That was how it sort of came to be here. The other cemeteries that had been created were all evacuated and disinterred and U.S. soldiers were repatriated. And then other Allied soldiers were reburied here.
00:05:35:11 - 00:05:42:07
Speaker 1
Tell me a little bit about how your interests personally with history has intersected with your daily work there at the cemetery.
00:05:42:11 - 00:06:03:07
Speaker 2
It's really in a hard to to overstate, like how how much history is part of my job. You know, as I mentioned, I work with a lot of international organizations, foreign embassies. Part of it is just this organizational history. Like questions will come up regarding, you know, how what how are things done here? But you know, at this time period or what was the origin of this particular issue?
00:06:03:07 - 00:06:29:09
Speaker 2
So I do a lot of that just sort of in-house, organizational histories. But but of course, a big part of it is also Korean War history. I'm very fortunate I get to meet a lot of people veterans, descendants of veterans, academics, researchers, people, you know, who teach me a lot about the cemetery. So it's really it's just huge, as I say, you know, as someone who loves history, it's just, it's just such a great place to have have landed.
00:06:29:09 - 00:06:43:15
Speaker 2
I like to joke, you know, that. You know, my parents just asked me, what are you going to do with that history degree, you know, and it took me like 20 years to finally get that question. But this is kind of what you do with a with a degree in history, but it's really just a huge part of my job.
00:06:43:15 - 00:06:56:09
Speaker 2
I mean, it's like you're living in a very historically important place. And, to be able to kind of try to piece that together and learn about it and share that with the public. It's just it's really exactly what I want to be doing.
00:06:56:11 - 00:07:02:23
Speaker 1
The Korean War, sometimes it's called the Forgotten War. Why is it important that visitors are able to connect with that history?
00:07:03:00 - 00:07:39:20
Speaker 2
In broad sense? I think anybody you know who puts on a uniform and goes, you know, to fight and to defend the country, especially one that they've never met, I think they deserve our respect. Like, you know, full stop. Why we I think we should honor, you know, Korean War veterans in particular. I mean, I think when you reflect that this modern nation of South Korea really only became possible because the, you know, the are okay and allied, you know, soldiers they they fought and defended and they carved up this, this little past place of, you know, free sovereign, you know, we're a free sovereign nation, could, could exist and thrive.
00:07:39:22 - 00:07:58:11
Speaker 2
It's an incredible achievement. And whenever I meet veterans, they're all, like, proud of what they've done. And especially when they see Korea now. And and the shame of it is that, you know, they went back home and they've rarely even got a word of thanks. Now, a lot of people weren't even aware that, you know, their countries were fighting in Korea.
00:07:58:12 - 00:08:21:02
Speaker 2
But when they come here and Korean people remember, you know, and, it's there's just such a disparity. You know, it's kind of tragic, you know, when they're here, they're treated like, like heroes, you know, but when they went back home, there was just like, nobody really knew or cared. And, it's sad really. You know, but I think we we owe it to them now to, to remember, you know, to honor that service and that sacrifice.
00:08:21:04 - 00:08:28:02
Speaker 1
Tell us a little bit what it's like to step foot into the cemetery. What are the major landmarks? What do you point visitors towards to you that have never been before?
00:08:28:04 - 00:08:47:09
Speaker 2
It a little bit depends on where they're from. And I like to, you know, for example, when Canadians visit, I'll take them to sites relevant to Canadian visitors or point out particular graves with stories attached. It's good that you sort of phrase the question that way, because the experience of entering the cemetery you right away understand you're in a different place.
00:08:47:09 - 00:09:06:06
Speaker 2
And there's a couple of reasons for that. One, we have this beautiful gate that was designed by a famous Korean architect, in the 1960s. And there's that aspect. And then it's always manned by two Korean Army honor guards in uniform. So you right away know you're in a very different sort of place. You're not entering a public park.
00:09:06:07 - 00:09:31:23
Speaker 2
Your demeanor changes right away. It's quiet. One of the things you notice, it's very green, very different from other parts of the city. I like to call people's attention to that aspect of it, too, because that's actually by design. You know, we're in the middle of a very densely populated city. Beginning in 1959, there was an agreement sign and part of this agreement said that Korean government had a responsibility to develop the surrounding area in a way that respected the dignity of the cemetery.
00:09:32:01 - 00:09:50:21
Speaker 2
So that quiet and that solemn sort of atmosphere you experience here, it's really by design. But there are so many wonderful things to see here. Again, the one of the most significant monuments is what we call the Wall of Remembrance. And it's a large black stone wall listing all of the names of the fallen UN service members in the Korean War.
00:09:50:23 - 00:10:10:06
Speaker 2
And it's a little bit reminiscent of, I think it was probably inspired by the Vietnam Memorial in in D.C. it's that similar concept of black stone with the names, and it's just it's very powerful when you see the names there. And it's in a beautiful setting with, with a fountain that has some symbolism built in. It has a gas flame burning of all the time.
00:10:10:06 - 00:10:35:16
Speaker 2
And, these 22 fountains of water that represent the 22 sending states. It's just a very peaceful, very beautiful tribute. And then individual nations have also installed their own national monuments over the years. Earlier, before we started recording, I'm talking about the Canadian monument. That's one of many monuments from New Zealand, Australia, the United States, France, Turkey, Greece.
00:10:35:17 - 00:10:58:23
Speaker 2
There there's several in fact, one of our current projects, we're talking we're trying to get, an Ethiopian monument, installed. That would be the first. And so we're in discussions trying to find, you know, funding for that. It's just so much about it that's unique. But those those would be the principal things. And then again, you know, when people come in from Australia, from Canada, I like to take them to individual graves.
00:10:58:23 - 00:11:11:22
Speaker 2
There's so many notable people and so many great stories. And also depending on how much time they have, you know, I can talk all day if they, you know, if they let me, tell them stories about some of the people who are interred there. There's just so much here to talk about.
00:11:11:22 - 00:11:17:23
Speaker 1
Are there any names that you find yourself coming back to that you like to pause by? Any stories that you could share with us today?
00:11:17:23 - 00:11:42:17
Speaker 2
Yeah. Well, one who's been on my mind, a lot recently. I was just on a research trip in February to the National Archives, and I was collecting information on the early years of the cemetery, one of my roles now, I've becoming sort of like an unofficial historian. I was collecting material on the, army unit that created and managed the cemetery during the war, and one of the, one of the big names that comes up again and again is a an American brigadier general named Richard Whitcomb.
00:11:42:17 - 00:11:59:19
Speaker 2
He was a logistics officer. He commanded, the I think it was called the Second Logistical Command. I may have that slightly wrong, but he was a basically a supply logistics officer based here in Busan. And he's also buried here. He passed away after the war in the 80s, but he was a big name. He just left a big footprint in Pusan.
00:11:59:19 - 00:12:26:14
Speaker 2
He did a lot of charitable work after the war. And during, I should say, he he used his connections to really help Busan get on its feet, and especially to house the many orphans that were sort of flooding into Busan. So he, he's a big name, and I was fortunate I found a lot of great photographs of him at the archives a couple of weeks ago, and, I've been sharing them with my colleagues all week this week and just blowing their minds like something they never seen photos before.
00:12:26:14 - 00:12:35:16
Speaker 2
And some really great, great stuff. So I've been thinking about him a lot. And he's he's buried just just outside here. I think he passed away in 1982.
00:12:35:17 - 00:12:43:13
Speaker 1
Am I mistaken? That is still an active cemetery. Burials are ongoing. Folks can be interred there that served during the conflict.
00:12:43:19 - 00:13:07:07
Speaker 2
You're right. Yeah, that's. That is true. So the story there is, when the cemetery was created, it was created for personnel who died while serving with any of the nations who were part of the UN command, you know, umbrella. That's still the case. I mean, we don't have as many burials of that kind now. But beginning in 2015, Korean War veterans are have become eligible.
00:13:07:09 - 00:13:25:07
Speaker 2
And, the story there, there were two gentlemen, one from France and one from England, who were requesting. They were asking, could we be buried there? They had a very strong, you know, personal connection to Korea, to the cemetery. They had friends buried here. So the commission that I mentioned earlier, they decided that. Yeah, that that's that would be appropriate.
00:13:25:07 - 00:13:50:03
Speaker 2
And, they certainly earned that. Right. So they changed the eligibility requirements in 2015. So since then, just about every year we've had burials of Korean War veterans from several nations. Now, I should have counted, but it's close to ten. I want to say, including nations who, who hadn't had any anyone, interred here in recent years who's had veterans from Belgium, Thailand and Columbia.
00:13:50:03 - 00:14:09:06
Speaker 2
Those are the only from those nations who are interred here. Others from Canada, U.S., Australia, France, Netherlands, Korea, and, gosh, I'm going to forget someone, but, but it's it's quite a long list. So United Kingdom, we created a separate section now. So those those happen generally at any time, but most often on the 11th of November.
00:14:09:07 - 00:14:26:08
Speaker 2
That's a significant date for a lot of our member countries. Currently working on two. We have two on our calendar scheduled for May 1st from the Netherlands and two gentlemen from France who were just very recently, their applications were approved. So, that's one of the things I'm working on.
00:14:26:09 - 00:14:34:07
Speaker 1
Have you attended any of these? What are people feeling? Do you get a chance to chat with any folks that are attending in the audience or family flying over? What does it look like?
00:14:34:07 - 00:14:53:22
Speaker 2
Part of my job is to help them organize these ceremonies from the application process, through the planning, through the exit. I've had the honor to act as the emcee. For many of them, it's they request that, to, you know, help some structure the ceremony, help them get, you know, necessary personnel we request, you know, the honor guard from the young man.
00:14:53:22 - 00:15:12:13
Speaker 2
So really, I'm here to whatever they need to just make that happen. And I'm also very fortunate I get to meet, you know, families, I get to chat with them. And it's just wonderful to be able to do that for them and to play a small part in making that final wish of the veterans or the family come through their various reasons for that.
00:15:12:15 - 00:15:29:09
Speaker 2
You know why they want to be buried here. And very often one of the things I've learned is a lot of families. Sometimes they're not crazy about the idea of, you know, burying on the world, but it meant so much to them that, you know, they honor that request. It's really wonderful to be able to help them, to do that.
00:15:29:09 - 00:15:53:22
Speaker 2
And then I meet lots of other folks who feel that, you know, the same, like a lot of people from the UN commanders, I've met the commanders who come or they they try or they'll send the deputy commander, the ambassadors will come down. A lot of schoolchildren will come to pay respects. So they're really beautiful ceremonies I've attended and I'll probably say around 30, give or take in the last, 8 or 9 years, we've up to three more on our calendar and possibly one in the fall.
00:15:53:22 - 00:15:58:05
Speaker 2
And again, it's just an honor and a privilege to really play a role in.
00:15:58:09 - 00:16:05:01
Speaker 1
2026 is big year. You're looking forward to a significant anniversary. Tell me what's going on in 2026.
00:16:05:01 - 00:16:25:10
Speaker 2
Every year is an anniversary of, something. When you have a three year war, there's always some anniversary that divisible by five, right? But this year is a big one for us personally. It's 75th anniversary of the foundation of the UN cemetery. Was dedicated in April, 1951, sort of at the peak of, you know, the fighting.
00:16:25:10 - 00:16:45:06
Speaker 2
And it's been a continuous operation since then. So really throughout the year we are, you know, just looking for ways of, you know, marking that and commemorating that in various ways. The current custodian of the cemetery, my boss, saw Jong in. He's very big on history and heritage. It's one of his big, big things. So he's got all sorts of ideas.
00:16:45:06 - 00:17:20:05
Speaker 2
And we've got a photo exhibition in the works, in the gestation stages right now of, some of the photos I've collected from National Archives showing the actual creation and construction of the cemetery. And then, you know, we have our normal calendar of events still probably be a bit, bigger. We have a, web tune, a local influencer and web two creator who we're working with to produce, like, stories of the interred, you know, in a format in a medium that's more popular among young people, but especially really a lot of things, on, on the, on the agenda this year, I mentioned I'm working on a, I'm drafting like, a,
00:17:20:06 - 00:17:40:17
Speaker 2
history that will probably be it'll be published in some form, probably initially on our website about the early years, the creation of the cemetery, how and why I had where I got a lot of great information from the archives last month. I was very fortunate to meet two gentlemen. Their father served in the unit that actually built the cemetery, and they have a lot of photos and stuff in their own collections.
00:17:40:17 - 00:17:46:05
Speaker 2
So yeah, I was trying to put that together in a in a way that's interesting and that we can share with, you know, with the public.
00:17:46:09 - 00:17:56:23
Speaker 1
If you could play tour Guide just for a moment, how do you get to be and should folks stay in the local area? How much time should they set aside for their visit, that kind of thing.
00:17:57:00 - 00:18:14:07
Speaker 2
Hussein is a great city to visit in its own right. As far as staying in Busan, most people tend to want to stay near the beach, which I would probably recommend. Stay at the beach. I would say stay at least, at least three days. A lot of people of course. Honestly, Seoul and Korea has got a lot of other cool small cities.
00:18:14:07 - 00:18:34:12
Speaker 2
But, three days in Pusan, seems right. The cemetery, you know, if you could spend at least a couple of hours, I'd say that would be a good, you know, a good chunk of time. It's not that big. But the, there is a lot here. And like I said, and if you have, like, a guided tour, if you happen to catch me when I'm not busy, I, I, I said I can, I can talk all day.
00:18:34:12 - 00:18:51:19
Speaker 2
So, there's not as much you're willing to spend here. We can you can find something interesting and I would say definitely eat lunch around here. There's a lot of great food in this area, a lot of great Korean food. I think more people should visit Pusan. More people are visiting Pusan. We get a lot more tourists now, which is good.
00:18:51:19 - 00:18:55:10
Speaker 2
It's it's always been a kind of an underrated city, in my view.
00:18:55:10 - 00:19:01:19
Speaker 1
For young South Koreans. Decades after the conflict, what do you hope that the site says to them as they're walking the grounds?
00:19:02:01 - 00:19:22:09
Speaker 2
First and foremost, you want them to know what happened here. You know, there was this war. There were all there was this coalition of nations who came together to defend Korea. And then, you know, the cemetery, too. I think one of the things is striking, and especially the young people's, as you walk around, you see the grave markers and it'll show the ages of the soldiers, you know, when they died.
00:19:22:10 - 00:19:42:07
Speaker 2
It's very powerful. If you're a high school student, you come here or a university student. You see, you know this soldier, he was 18 or 19 when he was killed. It immediately hits home. I mean, because, there we have, you know, people coming here are the same age, it's very powerful. And, you know, I would say that's probably the principal thing.
00:19:42:07 - 00:20:06:13
Speaker 2
And when you when you actually come here, you understand almost intuitively is that they deserve your respect. You know, because right away, I mentioned as soon as you enter, you understand, you're in a very different type of place. People, behave differently. They comport themselves differently. It's very quiet. You don't even need to be told, really, that this is this is a place that you know, where you behave a certain way and you respect the people who are were buried here.
00:20:06:13 - 00:20:29:04
Speaker 2
You know, we do occasionally have to remind the little ones, we get a lot of very young kids too. But it's it's wonderful to see. I mean, even kids who are too young to really understand the war, they come here and understand that this is a special place. This these are people who deserve our respect. And, you know, we behave differently when we are, you know, here, you know, we get them from all ages.
00:20:29:06 - 00:20:43:17
Speaker 2
But, anything they can take away, just just awareness is is huge. And as you know, just just being aware, you know, of what they did, what they achieved, you know, the sacrifices they made. And, that's huge. I mean, that's that's everything really, isn't it?
00:20:43:17 - 00:20:55:01
Speaker 1
I think 2027 represents your 10th year of service at the cemetery. Any changes in evolution in the local populations, relationship with the cemetery and your time there?
00:20:55:02 - 00:21:12:17
Speaker 2
A lot of the visitors we get there are local residents, obviously, who come here all the time. Just because it's such a beautiful place. It's a really all maintained. And I say that I take no credit for the beauty of the cemetery. I'm praising my colleagues here. It really is just a nice place to come spend time at.
00:21:12:17 - 00:21:36:03
Speaker 2
As I said, we've got lots of flowering trees and birds, so we've always had this kind of special relationship with the local population. One thing I can mention though, one one interesting change this past, very recently, this past year, I mentioned earlier how the Korean government has a responsibility to ensure that development around the cemetery respects the dignity of the cemetery.
00:21:36:03 - 00:22:01:13
Speaker 2
For decades, we've had only residential buildings around and small commercial like coffee shops and, you know, little restaurants. But the residential buildings were limited to about four stories. This is South Korea. I mean, we have 100 story building at the beach, a four story building. I mean, you can you can trip over it, you know, and they've been trying forever to change this to get and for many years, it's a very long story.
00:22:01:13 - 00:22:24:00
Speaker 2
But for many years the commission has been kind of opposed to that. But just last year, the commission agreed to, to what I consider a modest change that now they're going to allow up to, I think, 10 or 12 story buildings, to be built around the cemetery. So that that was huge news to our neighbors. They were very happy to hear that the district mayor was, you know, he was overjoyed.
00:22:24:00 - 00:22:32:22
Speaker 2
He succeeded where, you know, probably a dozen of his predecessors had failed. That was really big for local residents, a very big thing they've been trying to do for about
00:22:32:22 - 00:22:51:19
Speaker 1
What are some of the key dates and events that are happening at Umkc this year? Well, we have big annual events. Those would be the 25th of June that commemorates the the outbreak of the war. The 27th of July, the armistice agreement, 24th October, un day, 11th November.
00:22:51:21 - 00:23:16:07
Speaker 1
Which, is a significant date for many countries, but it's sort of been rolled into one big event called turn toward Busan, which is a big, multinational commemoration here, which, you know, honors all of the fallen from the sending states. And then there are other specific national, you know, commemorations and dates, Turkish Martyrs Day, which is that sort of Memorial Day, but the, commemorate the fallen.
00:23:16:07 - 00:23:39:17
Speaker 1
That's the 18th of March, Anzac day, 25th of April. And then the days leading up to it, the 23rd, 24th of April. Those are anniversaries of significant battles. The Battle of Cape Young, which involved Canadian and Australian and New Zealand forces, and then battle at the Indian River, which involved many British forces, happened at the same time. So those are those are also 75th anniversary years.
00:23:39:18 - 00:24:05:04
Speaker 1
I'm pretty sure that Canadians and Australians, they're planning big commemorations this year. In fact, just yesterday, the New Zealand Embassy told me that they'd like to do something around that time on the 23rd of April to commemorate those battles and Anzac Day and their case. US Memorial Day is another one coming up. And we always get groups down because as you know, you know, we have a lot of active duty U.S. service members here and families.
00:24:05:06 - 00:24:23:09
Speaker 1
So we usually get two or 3 or 4 different groups who come to to commemorations. You know, the danger of listing specific ones is that I'm going to leave somebody out and I'll get upset. Forgive me if I do that, but, but there are there are quite a few throughout the year. And for anyone visiting, what is the process for veterans or family members to visit the mosque?
00:24:23:09 - 00:24:42:01
Speaker 1
Are there resources available? Anyone is welcome to visit at any time without an appointment, but especially if a veteran is coming, or a family member or a bereaved family member. If there's a grave you want to visit, I would encourage you to get in touch first. You can contact us through our website or social media. You can ask for me or one of my colleagues.
00:24:42:01 - 00:24:58:20
Speaker 1
We always enjoy, you know, meeting folks and, showing them around. If I'm not busy, you know, I'm happy to to take them out, show them around where I, at minimum, you know, set them up with a guide or somebody who can do that. If I happen to be busy. But yeah, get in touch or just pop in, or if you do come, just pop into the office, see who's there.
00:24:58:20 - 00:25:03:11
Speaker 1
And, I'm I'm almost always there. Unless somebody drag me away for some reason.
00:25:03:11 - 00:25:03:16
Speaker 2
John.
00:25:03:16 - 00:25:07:22
Speaker 1
What is the best way for listeners to support the mission of the UN's Mic?
00:25:08:00 - 00:25:24:02
Speaker 2
If you are planning a visit to Korea and to Busan, absolutely make this part of your itinerary and and pop into the office, say hello. And if I'm not busy, I. I can't promise. But, happy to to, you know, ask for your questions. But short of that, I would say, you know, follow us on social media.
00:25:24:02 - 00:25:44:06
Speaker 2
We're on Instagram. That's u n McKay official and Facebook as well. And we have a very good website, actually, two, with a lot of really cool features. If you're not able to visit, we have like these virtual tours where you can zoom in, you can find individual graves, and we also have live feeds where you can see the cemetery throughout the year.
00:25:44:08 - 00:25:58:08
Speaker 2
So you see some of our plants and trees. So yeah, there are a lot of ways you can help. We generally don't get donations because we're pretty well funded. I'm not going to say don't donate. I'm not I don't want to appear like I have my hat out either. We're we're very well funded by our member countries.
00:25:58:08 - 00:26:05:16
Speaker 2
We're very grateful, especially to the government of the Republic of Korea. So, so so yeah, follow us and visit. If you can. That would be the best thing.
00:26:05:18 - 00:26:15:09
Speaker 1
Well, John, I can't thank you enough for coming on the show today. And I've so enjoyed learning more about the cemetery, about your background, what resonates with you and your work every day.
00:26:15:09 - 00:26:24:03
Speaker 2
It's been a pleasure for me too. Thanks, Matthew, for having me.
00:26:24:05 - 00:26:37:05
Speaker 1
Thanks so much for tuning in. Story. Behind the Stone is available on Apple Podcasts, on Spotify, and on the Rise Across America Radio Network on iHeartRadio. Audacity and tune in to search for wreath.
00:26:37:07 - 00:26:38:08
Speaker 1
Thank you for tuning in.