A Turkish soldier saved a little Korean girl in 1950, and a Korean soldier saved a little Turkish girl in 2023!
South Korea sent rescue workers of 118 members to Turkey on February 11, 2023 from a disaster relief team to unload relief supplies from an Air Force KC-330 military tanker aircraft according to YONHAP.
118 first-team members, including 43 soldiers from the Korea Emergency Relief Unit Special Forces, were dispatched to rescue/relief activities for earthquake damage in Turkiye, returned from their duties on the morning of the 18th.
Even Korean celebrities donated to help victims of the devastating earthquake in Turkey and Syria!
A photo was taken where a Korean soldier helped a little Turkish girl by giving her some water, and another Korean solider helped another Korean girl from an apartment from failing. These photos received a lot of attention on social media and reminded us that time repeats itself, such as the story in 1950 of the Turkish soldier father of the Korean war orphan!
Shared by the Twitter user @ayza_shabahat
The famous photo that went viral on social media by 뉴스픽
● But for those who didn't know about this story, what is it?
Sergeant Süleyman was one of the soldiers serving as a sergeant fighting in Korea in a brigade, he found a little girl wandering alone and her mother and father were murdered on the battlefield.
The orphan girl "Eun-ja Kim", giving her the Turkish name "Ayla", was cared by him for more than a year and a half, she even learned Turkish in this short time! He was a father to her until he was shipped back to Turkey and she was sent to an orphanage.
The Dutch Newspaper, Overijsselsch Dagblad 22-02-1952 posted :
” Korean refugee child has stolen the hearts of the members of the Turkish army in Korea. The girl's name is Ayla and she tries to spread some happiness with a smile among the fighting Turkish troops, who have adopted her”
● Do you know anything about Ayla's movie?
🎬 #Ayla's story was made into a Turkish movie, amidst the ravages of the Korean War, Sergeant Süleyman risks his own life to save Eun-ja Kim.
The movie languages: Korean, Turkish, and ..
Set during the Korean war in 1950, the film tells the story of a Turkish soldier, Sergeant Süleyman who comes across an abandoned 5-year-old girl on a freezing cold night.
The first time they met on the Cold night
The terrified, barely alive child melts Süleyman’s heart who risks his own life to smuggle her back to his army base and out of harm’s way.
He risks his own life to save her
Introducing her to his friends and trying to make her learn Turkish
He smuggles her back to his army base and out of harm’s way.
With no common language, Süleyman names her Ayla, a reference to the moon that lit the ravaged landscape on the night he found her.
A real photo of both of them
Taking care of her
The two soon become inseparable, bringing joy and laughter to the Turkish military base during the war.
She considered him her father
The two soon become inseparable
A real photo of both of them in 1950
When the war comes to an end, the sergeant is forced to give up Ayla to an orphanage but hopes they will be reunited one day.
Süleyman and Eun-ja Kim ( Ayla ) last moment together before leaving Korea
She was so sad that he left her and she tried to find him
Most of the important moments that were still in Ayla's heart are in this video :
Was shared by the Twitter user @izmirlim_a
Ayla' is a beautiful, touching, and heart-wrenching story, but you'll cry when you watch the real footage of them at the end of the movie when the two finally met again after 60 years.
This Movie "Ayla: Daughter of War " was nominated for an Oscar.
Years later, they searched for each other but she wasn't recognize his face, his name, or his voice because she was just 5 years old. She recognized only that he is Turkish, but she grew up praying with her heart to find him and meet him again before she dies.
Just when she was about to give up, a phone call came to her: "Are you, Ayla ?"
" I can't tell you how much I cried when I heard on the phone that a TV programmer was calling my father we're calling Ayla, as a result, luck favored us in 2010 and my father came to Korea to meet me, my happiness at that moment cannot be explained again "
She told her life story and how she met her father, but she was very sad about his condition because he was very sick back then.
She kept searching for him till they met again
She was his only daughter
After introducing her to his wife, and she introduced him to her children, he found out that her husband also passed away. It was a sad emotional time.
Ayla Turkish family
But not too long after Sergeant Süleyman died, he left behind the best story the world will ever hear: Ayla saw her parents, her husband died in front of her and she finally saw her second father's death.
Süleyman died lifting his only daughter with a lot of sadness for losing him
Korean soldiers proved that they are the best at their jobs and reminded us of the story of the orphan girl.
We hope that the situation in Turkey and Syria will improve and support all efforts to help improve lives in that area. What are your thoughts about this story? Did you know about it?