The Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs announced Thursday that Army Sergeant Kim Young-deok and French Army Lieutenant Colonel Ralph Monclar, who led the repulsion of Chinese forces at the Battle of Chipyong-ni, have been selected as "May's Korean War Heroes."
Sergeant Kim sustained a leg wound from enemy fire during a fierce hilltop battle between the 8th Division and Chinese forces in the Seohwa Valley area of Inje County, Gangwon Province. Despite his injury, he carried out a courageous attack and succeeded in destroying an enemy position. Kim was killed in action during the operation.
The government posthumously promoted him by one rank — he held the rank of corporal at the time of the battle — and awarded him the Hwarang Order of Military Merit in recognition of his service.
Monclar was a lieutenant general in the French Army, but when the Korean War broke out, he voluntarily accepted a demotion to lieutenant colonel in order to command the French Battalion, joining the conflict as part of the United Nations forces.
He distinguished himself at the Battle of Chipyong-ni from February 13 to 15, 1951, where French and U.S. troops defeated the Chinese army's human wave tactics in the Chipyong-ni area of Yangpyeong.
The victory at Chipyong-ni played a crucial role in halting the Chinese offensive and enabling U.N. forces to shift from a defensive to an offensive posture.
Monclar was awarded the U.S. Legion of Merit in March 1952.
