Natl. Archives of Korea Releases Rare Photos and Documentaries on Korean War

Cities were devastated by war. Houses and factories were destroyed and in rubble. A woman carrying a baby is checking where there used to be a kitchen. Civilians hurry to flee from the battlefields. A train is packed with refugees, and desperate people ride on the top of the train.

Refugees with a wagon loaded with luggage line up, to cross the Han River.People cross the river with flickering hopes of finding a safer shelter.

War refugees cluster in shanty towns, and their difficult lives continue without any promise of ending.
Some found their homes in school classrooms.

Orphanages were crowded with young children who lost their parents, and the streets were full of shoe shine boys.

However in Busan, a temporary capital during part of the Korean War, lives continued with universities and movie theaters.
Even a polling station was established for elections.

And allied soldiers reading letters from home,.. and drinking wine.

The National Archives of Korea has released rare photos and film footage that it collected from the United Nations and many countries.

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It included a British document that confirmed the cost of the war for the United Kingdom was 22 million pounds.

[Interview : Kim Kap-seop, Head of Archive Management Bureau
The National Archives of Korea] "It is the first time that the British military cost for entering the Korean War was revealed by official British documents".

Other classified documents that were released includes a document that says Mongolia supplied 7-thousand trained horses to North Korea for the war.
The photos and film provide a rare opportunity to closely view the Korean war.. and offer insights into how other countries were involved in the war.
Park Ji-won, Arirang News.

Reporter : jiwonpark@arirang.co.kr