Daily Busan
Busan sends Republic of Türkiye relief funds
Earthquake survivors in Türkiye (source: wikimedia commons)
Fundraising
Busan Metropolitan City announced that they plan to send approximately 126 million won in relief funds to assist the Republic of Türkiye (formerly referred to as “Turkey” or “Republic of Turkey”) in its recovery efforts after a 7.8-magnitude earthquake struck the nation.
The Republic of Türkiye’s relationship with Korea can be traced back to the 1950s when Türkiye sent over 14,900 service members to participate in the Korean War. Among those who served, approximately 1,000 were unrecovered (missing in action and/or presumed dead) or declared dead, with 462 being laid to rest at the United Nations Memorial Cemetery in Busan. To continue this special relationship, Busan designated Istanbul as a sister city in 2002 and has since pursued collaborative efforts.
Mayor Park Heong-joon emphasized the importance of providing humanitarian aid to the people of the Republic of Türkiye, considered brothers and sisters of Busanites due to the special relationship between the two nations. Park also expressed that Busan plans to work in solidarity with Türkiye’s officials in the restoration efforts and hopes that the donation will provide comfort to the victims. In addition to the relief funds provided by Busan Metropolitan City, local citizens are also gathering funds to contribute to the relief efforts. Busan has previously sent international aid to other nations in need, including 100 million won in relief efforts to the Sichuan province of China after the 2008 earthquake and over 126 million won to Ukraine in 2022.