According to the Namgu-district in Busan, James Grundy, a British veteran who served on the UN military body recovery team during the Korean War has died at 91 of cancer during the early morning of the 10th (local time).

According to Grundy’s will, his remains will be moved to Busan and buried in the UN Memorial Park alongside his comrades. He has also been granted posthumous burial by the International Commission of the UN Memorial Park.

An official at the UN Memorial Park said, “the body is expected to arrive from the UK sometime this month and the funeral will be held at the UN Memorial Park either in September or October.”

Grundy who fought in the Korean War in 1951 helped recover the bodies of around 90 British, US and South Korean soldiers during his service. Then, he returned to the UK in 1953 where he remained until his next visit to South Korea in 1988 with the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs’ revisit program.

Over the next 30 years, he would travel back to South Korea annually to take care of the UN Memorial Park. However, he was unable to visit Korea for two years due to the COVID-19 outbreak.

After his long-awaited return last May, he was able to hold a lecture here in Korea. In recognition of such hard work, Grundy was chosen as an honorary resident of the Namgu-district in May of 2019. An honorary citizenship was then scheduled to be given to him this October.