Located in Maribyrnong’s Quarry Park overlooking the Melbourne skyline, the Korean War Memorial is the first significant public memorial in Victoria to specifically honour Australians who served in the Korean War, and the Koreans who fought alongside them.
Led by Professor Blair Kuys (Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University), this project was bought to life by a team architects and engineers at Swinburne, together with the design team at The Refinery, and steered by the Melbourne Korean War Memorial Committee, with the City of Maribyrnong.
A curved bridge design was chosen to be the structure, paying homage to the South Korean Taegeuk, while importantly symbolising a link between the two nations. The pathway consists of Bluestone pavers, quarried locally in Victoria, and valley stone pavers, quarried in Gapyeong (formerly called Kapyong), the site of a key battle in the War, and donated by the Republic of Korea.
The internal panels, designed by The Refinery, tell the story of the Korean War and Australia’s important role.
Soldiers’ stories, sobering statistics, a list of the fallen and explanatory graphics inform visitors of key aspects of the war. Infographics throughout the design help visitors visualise the key stages, stark conditions and devastating casualties.
The partially obscured typography represents the war often being referred to as ‘the forgotten war’, while pillar-like panels arranged in staggered configurations represent Korea rising from the ashes after the war.
Another key feature of the panel design features the national flora of Australia and the Republic of Korea - the golden wattle and the hibiscus - representing the enduring relationship between the two nations.
Between 1950 and 1953, more than 17,000 Australians served in the Korean War.
Over 330 Australians lost their lives, alongside an estimated 804,700 South Korean civilian casualties.
To create a meaningful point of interaction and remembrance, the monument features imagery of soldiers composed of tens of thousands of perforations. These perforations allow visitors to insert remembrance poppies, offering a personal and poignant way to honour those who served and those who fell on both sides of the conflict.
The Melbourne Korean War Memorial was officially unveiled in 2019, with Korean and Australian war veterans in attendance.
The ceremony opened with a Welcoming Address by Korean Consul-General Mr Sunghyo Kim.
Mr Jong-gon Choi, representing the Korean War Memorial Committee, and Mr Tom Parkinson, President of the Korean War Veterans Association, delivered reflections on the importance and enduring significance of the memorial.
Dignitaries from Korea, Greece, the United States, France, as well as representatives from local councils and the Victorian State Government, were also present to honour the occasion.
“It was extremely humbling to see the effect of what the memorial meant to people at the opening.
Seeing people become extremely emotional as they walked through the memorial, pointing out names they recognised in the names of the fallen, really hit home for me that this is clearly more than just metal, stone and concrete. This is now a place of remembrance.”
– Mathieu Lewis, Project Manager at Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University
Credits
The Refinery
Creative Direction: Nick Lauria
Design: Nick Lauria
Centre for Design Innovation, Swinburne University
Project Manager: Mathieu Lewis
Design Team: Professor Blair Kuys, Professor Scott Thompson-Whiteside, Dr Kirsten Day, Dr Jo Kuys, Dr Simon Jackson
Korean War Memorial Committee
President: Jong Gon Choi
Vice President: Victor Dey, Dong Goo Park, Tomas Parkinson
Treasurer: Eunhee Bernstein
Secretary: Joy-Kim Winstone
Patron: Hongju Jo
Committee Members: Heesun Chang, Younggui Kim, Sang Yeol Lee, Inchool Na
Project Management Group
Korean War Memorial Committee
Korean Consulate-General
Maribyrnong City Council
Department of Premier and Cabinet
