During the war against the U.S., about 100 North Korean pilots were sent to Vietnam. They came to Vietnam to learn about flying techniques and fighting experience, said Major-general Phan Khac Hy, former Political commissar of the Vietnamese Air Force Command.
After learning the techniques, some soldiers suggested the Vietnam's air force let them fight alongside Vietnamese soldiers. The visiting North Korean pilots mostly fought in the skies over provinces near Hanoi, such as Vinh Phuc, Hai Duong or Hung Yen.
In September 1965, when fighting against the U.S. at the Kep air base, an airfield of the Vietnam People's Air Force in Bac Giang province (70 km northeast of Hanoi), a 19-year-old pilot was killed. In 1967, 12 more North Korean soldiers died. The 14th pilot laid down early in 1968.
Given the war situation then, the North Korean army decided to bury the fallen soldiers in Vietnam. It was the North Korean Embassy in Vietnam that chose the hill in Tan Dinh commune, Lang Giang district of Bac Giang province, for the cemetery.
In 2002, North Korea exhumed and took the mortal remains of their martyrs back home. After that Bac Giang Province turned the cemetery into a memorial site for North Korean martyrs./.
