United Nations Memorial Cemetery United Nations Memorial Cemetery ( UNMCK ) ( ; jae hahn UN ki nyum gong won ) , located at Tanggok in the Nam District , City of Busan , Republic of Korea , is a burial ground for United Nations Command ( UNC ) casualties of the Korean War . It contains 2 , 300 graves and is the only United Nations cemetery in the world . Laid out over 14 hectares ( 35 acres ) , the graves are set out in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of the buried servicemembers . History . Temporary battlefield cemeteries and remains recovery . The Korean War began when North Korean People ' s Army forces attacked south in June 1950 . As the fighting progressed , temporary military cemeteries for battle casualties were established by United Nations forces near the towns of Taejon ( 9 July 1950 ) , Kwan - ui ( Kwan - ni ) , Kum - chon , and Sindong . When the North Korean forces pushed towards Pusan , these cemeteries had to be abandoned . Later , as the Battle of Pusan Perimeter developed , temporary cemeteries were established at Masan , Miryang , and Taegu , with a Pusan cemetery being established on 11 July 1950 . As the fighting pushed into North Korea , temporary cemeteries were established in or near the towns of Kaesong , Sukehon , Wonsan , Pupchong ( Pukchong County ) , Yudarn - ni and Koto - ri . Some 11 division - level cemeteries were established in the first two months of fighting and later 5 UN military cemeteries were established in North Korea . At the beginning of the war , the nearest U . S . Army mortuary affairs unit was the 108th Graves Registration Platoon in Yokohama , Japan , which was searching for the remains of missing World War II American airmen . The 108th was reconfigured as the 114th Graves Registration Company and deployed to establish temporary cemeteries at Hungnam , Pyongyang , and Suchon as the fighting continued . Supporting the 2nd Infantry Division was the Graves Registration Section of the 2nd Quartermaster Company , which collected the remains of Allied and American soldiers to be further processed by the 148th Graves Registration Company . When UN forces launched the Inchon Invasion in September 1950 , a platoon from the 565th Graves Registration Company accompanied them . Other mortuary affairs units included the 293rd Graves Registration Company , activated in April 1951 . It was difficult to recover remains and conduct burials in Korea , due to the rugged geography and harsh climate , and the threat of unexploded ordnance and booby - traps . Construction of the Tanggok cemetery . Construction of the United Nations Military Cemetery ( UNMC ) at Tanggok began on 18 January 1951 and was carried out by hand - labor over a 28 . 2 hectares ( 70 acres ) site . It was dedicated by General Matthew Ridgeway on 6 April 1951 . Graves Registration units then concentrated American and allied remains at Tanggok before they were permanently buried or repatriated . Besides burial services , refrigeration units to store remains were added , as were cremation facilities . Today the 2 , 300 graves in the cemetery are set out in 22 sites designated by the nationalities of the buried servicemembers . Post - armistice . Following the signing of the Korean Armistice Agreement in July 1953 , the United Nations Command sought to recover bodies interred in North Korean territory . Cemeteries for POWs in North Korea were established at 16 POW camps . From September to October 1954 , the resulting exchange of casualties , dubbed Operation Glory , between United Nations forces and the North Koreans resulted in 4 , 219 remains being recovered , of which 1 , 275 were non - US casualties . ( Also exchanged were the remains of approximately 14 , 000 North Korean and Chinese casualties . ) From 1950 to 1954 , approximately 11 , 000 casualties were interred at UNMC , which was maintained by the United States Army Graves Registration Agency . Foundation as a United Nations cemetery and transfer to CUNMCK . It was officially established as the United Nations Memorial Cemetery on 15 December 1955 with the passage of UN General Assembly Resolution 977 ( X ) . Following the war , the cemetery was funded from the United Nations budget , but the Sino - Soviet world objected to this funding . In 1973 , the cemetery was transferred from the UN to the Commission for the United Nations Memorial Cemetery ( CUNMCK ) , which is composed of representatives from the 11 countries who have servicemembers buried there . Cultural heritage and tourism . The cemetery is designated as Site 359 in the listing of Registered Cultural Heritage Sites in Korea by the Cultural Heritage Administration of Korea . Also , it is a visitor attraction for Pacific Rim tourists . In 2011 , United Nations Secretary - General Ban Ki - Moon described it as the only United Nations cemetery in the world . Memorials . An Honour Guard from the Republic of Korea 53rd Division carries out flag ceremonies daily . The UN Sculpture Park was established in October 2001 and twenty - nine permanent memorials are in the cemetery . The memorials include : The Wall of Remembrance , completed in 2006 , has the names of the 40 , 896 United Nations casualties ( killed and missing ) inscribed on 140 marble panels . The UNMCK maintains a website in Korean , English , and Turkish ( Türkçe ) , which allows website visitors to post online flowers and tributary messages . Notable graves . The cemetery contains the graves of 2 , 289 military personnel and 11 non - combatants . Amongst those are the graves of Bill Madden GC , 3rd Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment , ( who died as a prisoner of war ) , Kenneth Muir VC ( killed in action in the Battle of Hill 282 while serving with the Argyll and Sutherland Highlanders ) , and Philip Curtis VC ( killed in action in the Battle of the Imjin River while serving with The Duke of Cornwall ' s Light Infantry ) . Also buried is Lt . Col . Charles Hercules Green DSO , commander of the 3rd Battalion , Royal Australian Regiment , who was mortally wounded at Battle of Chongju and died at nearby Anju . Dutch Lt . Col . , commander of the Regiment Van Heutsz , was killed in action during Operation Roundup in 1951 and is buried with members of his regiment – posthumously , den Ouden was awarded Netherlands ' highest military award , the Military Order of William . In the early days of the war , journalist Christopher Buckley died from a land mine explosion , and was subsequently buried at the cemetery .