Posted June. 30, 2010 12:58,
"Its well made with my sons picture. Oh, my good-looking son, I still cant believe hes no longer here."
Mun Hwa-sun, 63, the mother of the late Han Sang-guk, who was killed in the second inter-Korean battle of Yeonpyeong Island in 2002, said this with a sigh.
She looked at page A12 of the May 27 edition of The Dong-A Ilbo, which ran a story on a chief petty officer, on a touch screen in the Security Exhibition Room of Chamsuri-357.
On the eighth anniversary of the battle, the relatives of those killed and survivors looked around the exhibition room located at the Pond of Peace inside the Korean War Memorial in Seoul. The bereaved families looked at documents and videos, including Dong-A articles on the battles six victims, and seemed unwilling to leave the room.
The exhibition room consisted of three sections: "NLL (Northern Limit Line) -- the Power Keg of the Korean Peninsula"; "The Room of Battle Experience"; and "Chamsuri 357 and Six Heroes." The room is located in a warship that resembles the Chamsuri 357, which was sunk in the battle.
Families seemed depressed after watching a video of the battle in the second room after going through the first room to see an overview of the inter-Korean sea border. Certain relatives of the victims were driven to tears.
Battle survivor Kim Taek-jung, 29, left the room before the video ended, saying, "I can`t stay there because it reminds me of the situation back then."
The third room had documents, pictures and the remains of the six fallen soldiers on touch screens. Commander Cho Seong-min, who participated in making the exhibition room, said, "We prepared articles from The Dong-A Ilbo that covered the fallen soldiers in detail and their information and pictures on touch screens so that visitors can look them easily."
"The Chamsuri 357 exhibition room has about 2,000 visitors per day on weekdays and 3,000 on weekends, making it a popular site at the Korean War Memorial."