‘Witness to the Korea-US Alliance’ Kim Young-kyu, USFK Public Affairs Officer, Retires After 44 Years

Started Public Relations Work at US 2nd Infantry Division in '79, Retiring on the 31st

Kim Young-kyu, Public Affairs Officer of the United States Forces Korea (Photo by Yonhap News)

Kim Young-gyu (76), a public affairs officer who has served as the media liaison for the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) for 44 years, will retire on the 31st of this month.

The ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command announced on the 18th that it plans to present Kim with a plaque of appreciation for his contributions to the ROK-U.S. alliance at the 70th Anniversary of the ROK-U.S. Alliance commemorative concert, which will be held on the 20th at the Seobu Culture and Arts Center in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province.

Kim’s connection with the USFK, which celebrated its 50th anniversary on the 1st of this month, began in 1976 when he was 30 years old and drafted as a KATUSA (Korean Augmentation to the United States Army) soldier. Majoring in history at Yonsei University (class of ’67), he was assigned to the Public Affairs Office of the U.S. 2nd Infantry Division in Dongducheon and worked as a reporter for the division’s newsletter, the “Indian Head.”

Articles he co-wrote with U.S. soldiers on issues such as mixed-race Koreans resonated even in the Korean media, which led to his formal hiring as a staff member in the 2nd Infantry Division’s Public Affairs Office after his discharge. In 1985, he transferred to the Public Affairs Office at the USFK headquarters in Yongsan, Seoul, and has continued to serve as the media liaison for the USFK up to this year, when he turned 60.

During the 1976 axe murder incident at Panmunjom by North Korean forces, Kim observed and documented the operation in which 2nd Infantry Division soldiers confronted the North Korean troops and removed the poplar tree at Panmunjom. Since then, he has led domestic and international press teams to Panmunjom, the site of the division between North and South Korea, so frequently that he has worn down the threshold from countless visits. Combining the regular Wednesday visits and other visits during inter-Korean contacts, he estimates he has been to Panmunjom at least 1,000 times over the past 31 years. In short, he is a living witness to Panmunjom. Subsequently, as a public affairs officer for the USFK headquarters, the ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command, and the United Nations Command, he has acted as a bridge between the Korean and U.S. militaries and supported on-site reporting by domestic and international journalists.

Originally from Jeju Island, he is sometimes called “the person born at the southernmost end who works at the northernmost end” because of this.