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According to a new report from the Urban Policy Institute, there is a staggeringly unequal distribution of Korean War memorabilia amongst Americans.
Economist Leanne Miller’s findings showed that over 99 percent of Korean War memorabilia is owned by just 1 percent of the nation’s population. “Fewer than one million households own helmets, patches, dog tags, medals or weapons from the Korean conflict between the years of 1950-1953,” said Miller. “This war-souvenir ownership gap is deeply unsettling.”
According to the study, Korean War relics tend to be passed down by people who fought in the war, keeping the majority of collectibles confined to an extremely small portion of the world’s population.
“The fact of the matter is, most of the owners of these artifacts inherited them," said Miller. “It’s a self-perpetuating cycle of inequality that makes it increasingly difficult for the majority of people to get their share of shell casings from the Battle of Chipyong-ni or original schematic maps from the Korean People’s Army.”
Miller postulates that the most effective solution to the national disparity is a radical redistribution of Korean War memorabilia. “Is this systemic inequality consonant with American democracy?” asked Miller. "For me, the answer is ‘no.’ America needs a system that ensures equal access to material remnants of that pivotal war fought on the Korean Peninsula. Only then will we be the nation our Founding Fathers so long ago envisioned.”
