BUSAN, Nov. 30 (Yonhap) -- U.N. Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon on Wednesday paid tribute to foreign soldiers who lost their lives during the 1950-53 Korean War, making a visit to a cemetery in this South Korean port city of Busan.

   The Korean War started in 1950 when tank-led North Korean troops invaded South Korea. The U.S. and 20 other allied countries fought on the side of South Korea under the U.N. flag.

   Ban, who was attending a global forum on aid effectiveness in Busan, visited the U.N. Memorial Cemetery, which contains the remains of 2,300 foreign soldiers killed in the three-year war.

   It marked the first visit to the cemetery by a U.N. chief, officials said.

   Ban, a former South Korean foreign minister, paid his respects to the war dead by laying a white flower at a representative grave.

  

kdh@yna.co.kr
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