The 71st Anniversary of the Battle of Gapyeong Commemoration and Gapyeong Scholarships Awards Ceremony
AustCham Korea marked the 71st anniversary of the Battle of Gapyeong with a commemorative ceremony at the Australia and New Zealand Memorial in Gapyeong on Friday, 22nd of April, 2022.
The event honoured the brave soldiers from Australia and New Zealand who fought alongside South Korea during the Korean War. The Battle of Gapyong, (April 23–25, 1951), was a Korean War battle in which vastly outnumbered United Nations forces checked the communist advance on the South Korean capital of Seoul. Two Commonwealth battalions—the 2nd Battalion of the Princess Patricia’s Canadian Light Infantry Regiment (2PPCLI) and the 3rd Battalion of the Royal Australian Regiment (3RAR)—bore the brunt of the attack, and their defense of the Gapyong River valley against an entire enemy division helped halt the Communist Spring Offensive. Today, the battle is regarded as one of the most famous actions fought together by the Australian and Canadian armies in Korea.
Last Friday, the event was attended by the Australian Ambassador, H.E Catherine Raper, the New Zealand Ambassador, H.E. Philip Turner, defence teams of both countries, AustCham Korea, The Kiwi Chamber (The New Zealand Chamber of Commerce in Korea), and ANZA Korea.
AustCham honoured the legacy of those who fought by donating 14 educational scholarships to local middle and high school students from the Gapyeong community thanks to the support of Gold Sponsors Eastpoint Partners Limited, IFM Investors, Macquarie Group, POSCO Holdings, Pepper Savings Bank Korea, and Woodside Energy. AustCham Korea would like to extend our special thanks to John Walker and Pepper Savings Bank Korea for making additional donations.
