On 11 November 2024, H.E. Mr. Tanee Sangrat, Ambassador of Thailand to the ROK, delivered the opening remarks at the interment ceremony for Corporal Rod Asanapan, a Thai Korean War veteran, at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery Korea (UNMCK) in Busan. Ambassador Tanee commemorated the bravery and sacrifice of Corporal Rod and all Thai servicemen who fought shoulder-to-shoulder with the ROK to defend a people they had never met in a country to which they had never been, a shared sacrifice that remains the bedrock of the unwavering friendship and close relations between both countries to this day.

Ms. Somsong Charoenponganan, Corporal Rod’s daughter, also provided remarks commemorating her father’s heroism during the War, alongside H.E. Kang Jung-ae, Minister of Patriots and Veterans Affairs of the ROK, and Lt. General Derek Macaulay, Deputy Commander of the United Nations Command (UNC).

Corporal Rod Asanapan is the first Thai Korean War veteran to be interred at the UNMCK. He participated in the Korean War as part of the Royal Thai Armed Forces’ medical corps, serving under UN Command, led by the United States in the conflict from November 1952-October 1953, and passed away in June 2023 at the age of 101. Corporal Rod had previously expressed his desire to be interred in the ROK, given his deep connection and love for the country.

The interment ceremony was jointly coordinated by the Royal Thai Embassy, the Office of the Defence Attache, and the Office of the Thai Liaison Officer to the UNC, with generous support from the UNMCK and the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs (MPVA). The ceremony was attended by representatives of the Government and Armed Forces of the ROK, representatives from UNC member states, Korean War veterans from the ROK and abroad, members of the public, and press.