Kim Tae-kyun’s Emotional Journey: Fighting for His Father’s Recognition as a Vietnam War Veteran

Translation result [Herald Economy = Kim Seong-hoon] Comedian Kim Tae-gyun has opened up about his father, a Vietnam War veteran he lost in childhood.

Kim is scheduled to appear as a guest on MBN’s “Kim Joo-ha’s Day and Night,” airing on the 9th.

On the program, Kim recounted that his father died of salivary gland cancer when Kim was 6. Officials later determined the illness was linked to Agent Orange exposure during the Vietnam War, which allowed his father to be buried at the National Cemetery. Kim also described the long effort he undertook to secure official recognition of his father as a national veteran.

His father was a career soldier who rose from private to major and served in Vietnam. He left the service the year Kim was born.

Kim said he only learned why his father was discharged after his death. With his father’s dog tags in hand, he reviewed the records and discovered that the salivary gland cancer developed after his return from Vietnam. His father had not told Kim’s mother; he signed the guardian consent form himself and underwent surgery alone. After the operation, the military classified him as unfit for service and discharged him — a medical discharge his mother did not know about.

For years the government did not recognize Kim’s father as a national veteran. Kim filed suit against the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs and pursued the case through three trials over four years. In 2009, the court finally recognized his father as a national veteran.

Kim added that his mother, who died 13 years ago, is buried alongside his father at the National Cemetery, and that he visits their graves at least once a month.