South Korea and India agree to build Korean War memorial

South Korea and India have agreed to build a Korean War memorial here and the local government has already designated a place for it in central Delhi, the country's envoy said Tuesday.

Korean envoy Shin Bong-kil said India and South Korea have agreed but "some administrative process" is needed.

"Basically, both sides (India and South Korea) have agreed to build a Korean War memorial in India (Delhi). The city government has already designated a place for it," he said.

Shin said South Korea expects that the work would be "completed by the end of next year".

"We need some sort of a design and South Korea would be happy to fund it," Shin told reporters on the sidelines of a seminar on 'Emerging Korea-India Relations: Convergence of India's Act East Policy and Korea's New Southern Policy' organised here by city-based think-tank Vivekananda International Foundation.

India had sent medical and custodian forces during the Korean War from 1950-53 and there is an association of Korean War veterans in India, the envoy said, adding, "sixteen countries had sent combatant forces during the War".

"We already have Korean War memorials in several countries, including, the UK (London), the US (Washington, DC)," he said.

Earlier in his address, the envoy said South Korean President Moon Jae-in's July State visit to India was a "special one" driven by a special agenda to elevate its special strategic ties with India to "new heights".

"He visited India at a time when Seoul had declared the New Southern Policy in an attempt to expand South Korea's diplomatic horizons, beyond the four major powers," he said.

As per the New Southern Policy, South Korea seeks to elevate ties with India to the level of Korea's relations with the four major powers in and around the Korean Peninsula – China, Japan, Russia and the US.

"South Korea seeks to have the same level of intense engagement with India as that with the four major powers. The New Southern Policy is in sync with India's Act East Policy," he said.

Moon's visit was aimed at harnessing the convergence in the policy initiatives of the two governments in economic and strategic areas, the envoy said.

"In order to tap the synergy, President Moon and Prime Minister Narendra Modi have set an ambitious target of USD 50 billion in bilateral trade by 2030... India has also extended full support in the peace process in the Korean Peninsula. Together, the two countries would scale new heights in the days to come," he said.