Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

[MND] Pride for the army that protects our nation and our people!

The ‘Love for Soldiers Campaign’, based on public participation and support, will start on June 1.

On May 31, the MND stated that “We will carry out ‘Thank you, Soldiers!’ to instill a sense of pride among our soldiers. It is a two-way campaign that is based on mutual communication and trust, in which the soldiers will perform their duties to protect their country and the people, while the people will encourage and cheer on our soldiers.”

The MND is going to propel its campaign while adopting a longer-term perspective; it will be developed and undertaken as a sociocultural movement, not just as a simple event that aims to have temporary effects. This movement will encourage the soldiers to place their trust in the people as they fulfill their missions, and the people will ultimately respect the soldiers’ devotion.

To give the campaign a symbolic, continuous, and unified character, the MND will design a ’Brand-integrated Image(BI)’ and use it broadly both online and offline, such as in news releases, event printouts, souvenirs, videos, card news, etc.

The campaign will begin with the group, ‘LABOUM’, which was appointed as the soldiers' cheerleaders on June 1. LABOUM is going to visit front-line troops, including the General Outpost(GOP), to help alleviate their fatigue and stress over the course of more than 15 visits throughout the month of June.

With the theme of ‘Army’s Devotion, Reason for the Existence of Army’, ‘2016 Korea Soldiers Visual Advertisement Idea Contest’ will be held until June 17. The applicants of the contest will be asked to submit one presentation video to personally introduce a project proposal without no genre or form. On June 24, there will be a first pitch-throwing ceremony will be held with the LG Twins, a professional baseball team, to celebrate the soldiers' devotion. Throwing the first pitches are Sergeant First Class Ha Jae-heon and Sergeant First Class-to-be Kim Jung-won, who were wounded due to North Korea’s mine provocation in August of last year. These soldiers’ parents, fellow soldiers deployed at that time, the army doctor who helped with treatment, and more will also be in attendance to contribute to the ceremony. Furthermore, the MND will carry out additional campaigns over a number of social networking events, such as through portals, at companies, with private organizations, etc.

An MND relevant official said, “This campaign aims to cultivate the pride of the soldiers while making a contribution to national integration and security via active communication with the people. The MND will expand its communication and cooperation with the people, companies, and social organizations, fulfilling its duties for the country and the people in order to continuously create a social atmosphere in which soldiers are respected.”

By Byeong-No, Yun < trylover@dema.mil.kr >
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