Martin Uden

Manchester United's visit to Seoul

In so many ways, one of Britain’s greatest strengths from Chaucer onwards has been its culture.  In recent times that has become an economic and export driver.  The latest Harry Potter film is a very clear example of this, but so too was the tour to the Far East, including Korea, by Manchester United.  Their worldwide commercial success has been remarkable, quite apart from their achievements on the football field.  It was the same last Friday.  In front of a capacity crowd at Seoul’s World Cup stadium, Man U beat FC Seoul 3-2 in what turned out to be an exciting match. 

For me it was also fascinating that the team takes such great care to foster its public image and was accompanied by two of the great names of the team’s past – Sir Bobby Charlton and Bryan Robson.  But for the Seoul crowd, there was really only one name on their lips – Park Ji-sung.  Although he didn’t start the match, he came on in the second half, which was really what the crowd wanted to see.  He is such a well-known figure in Korea, and the nation is very proud of his achievement in playing for Man U.

One other footballing issue that both countries share is that both Korea and England are bidding to stage the World Cup in 2018/2022.  It’s clear that both countries have tremendously strong bids, based above all on the strong fan base and the high standard of the home leagues.

Posted at 13:47 27 July 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[2]

British Heroes Return

This time of year is always particularly busy for the Embassy, and especially so for the Defence Section, since we combine with the Korean Veterans’ Association to organize the Annual Revisit of British Korean War Veterans and some of their families.  This year over 70 of them made the long journey, ranging from old soldiers now in their 80s right down to a grandson (Joe, aged 12) who came along with his Grandad to see a place that meant so much to his family. 

As we do every year, we held the main British commemoration at the Imjin river British memorial where, in April 1951, heavily outnumbered British forces fought three divisions of the 63rd Chinese Communist Army.  The veterans gave out 60 scholarships to schoolchildren from the local school in Solma-ri, funded by donations from the British community in Korea and intended to provide a ‘living memorial’ to British involvement in the Korean War.  This year, the Commonwealth service held at Kapyong also had a particular meaning as I was privileged to unveil a memorial to the men of the Middlesex Regiment, the Duke of Cornwall’s Own, who fell during the Korean War, many of whom died in two battles at Kapyong. 

Sadly, the Korean War has earned the soubriquet, “the forgotten war,” but the sacrifice that foreign troops made in defence of their country is far from forgotten here.  It is one of the most gratifying experiences for the returning troops that they find that they are hailed as heroes wherever they go.  So often they have enormously mixed feelings about their return – and this year, as always, a large number are coming back for the first time since the 1950s – but without exception (so far as I know) they deeply value the experience and many make it an almost annual pilgrimage.  And honouring their sacrifice and the sacrifice of the 1,109 British servicemen who lost their lives here is one of the most important things this Embassy can do.

Posted at 18:15 20 April 2009 by Martin Uden  |  Comments[1]