Letter from A S Howieson (for Chief of Defence Force) enclosed with the medal.
Royal permission (by Queen Elizabeth) has been given for New Zealanders who served in
Korea during the war to accept and wear this particular medal conferred by the Republic of
Korea. The medal is distributed to veterans by the New Zealand Defence Force on behalf of
the government of the Republic of Korea.
In the 'Order of wear', the Korean War Service Medal is a foreign award to be worn after
all long service awards and Commonwealth honours, i.e. after all New Zealand, British and
Commonwealth decorations and medals. If other foreign awards are worn, the Korean War
Service Medal will be worn by the date of qualifying service, e.g. before the South
Vietnam Campaign Star. No minatures of this medal are available.
You may also be aware that the government has approved a number of measures to ensure
appropriate medallic recognition for New Zealanders who have served their country in
military operations.
A new medal, the New Zealand Operational Service Medal, will be awarded to recognise
service to New Zealand in military operations since 2 September 1945. The medal is a
follow-on from the NZ War Service Medal 1939-45. It will be awarded once only to New
Zealanders who have performed operational service for an appropriate qualifying time. This
medal will be awarded in addition to any other medals received for that operational
service. The principle is that the NZ Operational Service Medal will recognise service to
New Zealand and the various campaign medals will show where that service was rendered.
New Zealand veterans of service in Korea between 1950 and 1957 will be eligible to receive
the NZ Operational Service Medal. The full eligibility criteria are still to be
determined, so the Defence Force is not yet seeking applications for the award of the
medal, which has to be designed, minted and delivered. It is anticipated it will be at
least 12 months before the medal is available.
You will not have to apply for the medal as your service has been confirmed in determining
eligibility for the Korean WAr Service Medal. We will forward the NZ Operational Service
Medal to you when available. You should however advise us of any change of address in the
interim.
