Canadian Guy Black is walking across Korea to honor the Battle of Kapyong. He plans to walk about 355km from Gapyeong to the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan. He will also attend a memorial ceremony for veterans from 4 Commonwealth countries who fought in the Korean War. Guy Black said this is his third Kapyong memorial project. In 2021, he walked about 300km from Tofino, British Columbia, Canada, to the Kapyong Stone in Langley. In 2023, he also carried out a memorial walk of about 300km in a way that connected Canada and Korea. The Battle of Kapyong took place over 3 days starting on April 23, 1951. At that time, the 27th Commonwealth Brigade blocked a larger Chinese force around the Kapyong River. This battle is still remembered as an important military history in Canada and Australia.
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A Canadian walking in Korea is not just joining a memorial event
If you only glance at the article, you might think, 'Maybe one foreign person is joining a meaningful walking event.' But Guy Black's walk is not at that level. He is closer to a person who remembers one scene called the Battle of Kapyong with his whole body. He walked about 300km in Canada, did another memorial walk of a similar size in Korea, and now he is setting out to walk about 355km from Gapyeong to the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan.
Why go this far? As time passes, memories of war can easily become just one line in a textbook. But some people turn that memory into a ritual carried by their feet, not a speech at an event. Guy Black is a former Canadian reservist, and he is known as a recorder, volunteer, and connector in the veteran community. So his walking feels less like a personal hobby and more like a declaration: 'I will carry this story to the next generation.'
So now the question comes up. What is the Battle of Kapyong, and why would a Canadian keep honoring it by walking in both his own country and Korea more than 70 years later? To understand that, we first need to see how Kapyong became a living memory even now from one battle.
Guy Black's walk is not simple participation. It is 'active remembrance' that keeps memory going.
So the core of this article is not one person's walk, but why the Battle of Kapyong is still a memory in the present.
Memory of the Battle of Kapyong did not end with just one battle
If you look in time order at how memory of the battle continued to memorial walks in the 2020s, it becomes easy to understand.
Step 1: In 1950, Canada sent troops to the Korean War
As the Korean War developed into a UN war, Canada also sent troops. The unit sent at this time later became a key main force in the Battle of Kapyong.
Step 2: In April 1951, they stopped the shift of the war at Kapyong
At a moment when the front line was shaking from the Chinese spring offensive, the 27th Commonwealth Brigade held the Kapyong valley and the nearby hills. This battle is remembered as a turning point that bought time for the defense toward Seoul.
Step 3: After the war, 'Kapyong' became a unit honor
Kapyong was not just a battle site. It became a battle honour, that is, an official battle honor. Simply put, it is like a name tag showing 'what test this unit passed.'
Step 4: From the 1980s to the 2020s, memorials and parks were created
Not only in Gapyeong in Korea, but also in mainland Canada, memorial places like Kap'yong Memorial, Kapyong Park, and Gapyeong Battle Monument were created. Memory became fixed as a place, not just as documents.
Step 5: Now descendants and civilians are walking that memory
From the 2020s, memorial trails and walking pilgrimages appeared. In a time when the veteran generation is getting smaller, the way of carrying on memory has expanded into 'passing through the actual place again with the body.'
Why was Gapyeong so important?
What made the Battle of Gapyeong special was not simply that it was 'fierce.' What mattered was what place they were fighting to protect. Gapyeong was on a valley and road line about 60km northeast of Seoul. Because it was a mountainous area, it was hard for large forces to move just anywhere, so they had to come down along the valleys and roads. So Gapyeong was not like a big main gate, but more like a narrow side gate between the mountains.
During the Chinese spring offensive in April 1951, some Korean front lines collapsed, so this route suddenly became dangerous. If the Gapyeong line had been broken through more easily, the UN forces would likely have had a much harder time retreating and reorganizing. So the Battle of Gapyeong was not the final decisive battle that ended the war at once, but it is seen as a blocking battle that cut off a flow that could threaten the Seoul area again.
This is also why people in Canada still repeat this point. It is not only pride saying, 'we won a great victory,' but a story about holding a collapsing front line and gaining time. Rather than a flashy movie-like victory in a huge offensive, what stayed longer was that it was a defensive battle that stopped an even more dangerous situation.
Gapyeong was not a 'wide main road' to Seoul, but an important route for moving south through mountain terrain.
So the Battle of Gapyeong is remembered not as a battle that won back a lot of territory, but as a battle that held a front line that could have collapsed.
If you look only at the numbers, the Commonwealth forces were at a disadvantage
The detailed numbers are a little different by source, but the overall picture is the same: 'the Commonwealth forces held the line with a much smaller number of troops.'
Even so, they did not get pushed back because each country had a different role
| Country/Unit | Role on the ground | Why was it important? |
|---|---|---|
| Australia 3RAR | Took the early attacks near Hill 504 | They stopped the Chinese forces from passing through the valley entrance all at once |
| Canada 2 PPCLI | Core of the defense at Hill 677 | They endured the main attack in the later stage and became the center of the Battle of Gapyeong story |
| New Zealand 16th Field Regiment | Continuous artillery fire support | They made up for the weakness of having fewer troops with firepower striking from a distance |
| British units | Command, rear defense, machine gun and support duties | They supported the front-line infantry so they could focus on defending the hills |
This is how the battle went over 3 days
If you look at the Battle of Gapyeong in time order, it shows more clearly why this battle was not so much a 'miracle victory' as a 'successful urgent blocking battle.'
Step 1: They quickly filled the broken front line
Around April 23, 1951, the Korean 6th Division retreated, and a gap opened in the front line. The Commonwealth 27th Brigade had not originally prepared for a large decisive battle here, but was quickly deployed to the hills and road line around Gapyeong.
Step 2: Australian forces took the first shock of the Chinese army
The early attacks were focused on the Australian 3RAR side. Night attacks and infiltration kept coming, but the valley entrance did not collapse all at once because the Australian forces held the eastern axis.
Step 3: The weight of the battle moved to the Canadian forces side
After that, the center of pressure moved to Hill 677, which was defended by the Canadian 2 PPCLI. The Chinese army tried wave attacks at night, but the Canadian forces did not give up the hill and kept the front line connected.
Step 4: Terrain and artillery made up for the troop gap
In the narrow valley, it was hard for the Chinese army to spread many troops at once. On the other hand, Commonwealth forces combined hill defense and artillery support, so even with fewer numbers they kept breaking the attacks. Simply put, the side guarding the entrance of a narrow alley had the advantage.
Step 5: Stopping the breakthrough was the real result of the battle
Around April 25, the Chinese army offensive slowed down, and the Commonwealth forces achieved their goal of defending the Gapyeong axis. The key was not a victory that greatly expanded the battlefield, but slowing the flow that could lead toward Seoul and buying time for the UN forces to regroup.
Why 4 Commonwealth countries still remember it together
| Country | Reason for participation/background | Position in the Battle of Gapyeong | How it is remembered today |
|---|---|---|---|
| Canada | UN collective security and alliance responsibility | 2 PPCLI was the center of the Hill 677 defense | National veterans materials, Kapyong Park, memorial stone, educational materials |
| Australia | Quick response to the UN request | 3RAR absorbed the first shock | Kapyong Day, linked with the ANZAC remembrance tradition |
| New Zealand | Responsibility as a founding UN country and Cold War solidarity | Fire support from the 16th Field Regiment | Seminars, veterans events, memory in artillery tradition |
| United Kingdom | Commonwealth brigade organization and joint operations | Command, support, and rear defense | Local memorial ceremonies and Commonwealth remembrance culture |
Why does 'Gapyeong' remain in Canada as a park name and memorial stone?
| Memory device | What is there | Meaning |
|---|---|---|
| National veterans remembrance | The ministry officially describes about 26 thousand Korean War participants and 516 war dead | It means the Korean War is still recorded in Canada's national memory |
| Place memory | Kapyong Park, Kap'yong Memorial, Gapyeong Battle Monument | Gapyeong became not just a foreign place name, but the name of remembrance places inside Canada |
| Name memory | Remembering 516 war dead on the Wall of Remembrance | It is not an abstract patriotic story, but a way of remembering each person one by one |
| Ceremonial memory | Annual events like Turn to Busan | Remembrance inside Canada is connected with the UN Memorial Cemetery in Busan in Korea |
| Korea-Canada exchange | A granite memorial stone donated by Gapyeong County and creation of a new memorial | The memory of war does not stop at looking back on the past, but continues as diplomatic friendship |
So 'Gapyeong' is a Korean place name, but it also became part of the identity of Canadian and Australian forces
For Korean people, Gapyeong may first bring to mind images like a travel spot, pine nuts, or dakgalbi. But for some soldiers in Canada and Australia, Gapyeong, or more exactly Kapyong, is the name that explains 'what kind of unit we are.' That is because this battle became a battle honour, meaning an officially recognized combat honor for the unit.
This idea may feel a little unfamiliar, but simply put, it is similar to a school sports team keeping a national championship win as part of the school's history. But in the military, it is much more institutionalized. It is repeated in unit flags, regimental history, memorial days, and new recruit training. So 'Gapyeong' remains not just a place name on a map, but a symbol meaning the experience of protecting the mission to the end even in overwhelming disadvantage.
If you see it this way, you can understand why Guy Black walks in Korea again. He is not honoring an old battle in a strange country, but visiting a place that shaped the identity of his own community. And from Korea's side, it is even more interesting. It means the memory of the Korean War is not preserved only inside Korea, but for some foreigners it is still alive today as a present duty and pride.
The Battle of Gapyeong is not just an 'old victory.' It is still a name that continues today as tradition and education in the Canadian and Australian militaries.
So one Canadian person's walk across the country is closer to reconnecting the history of Korea and his own country than to being only a memorial event.
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