Korea Medal 1950 - 1953

     Instituted July 1951 by King George VI for award to the British Commonwealth forces deployed to Korea and surrounding waters between 2 July 1950 and 27 July 1953. The qualification period was one day for service on land for all three services - or one operational sortie over Korea for the RAF, or 28 days sea service in the designated area for the Navy)   Description: In cupro-nickel (Canadian version in silver) 36mm diameter with a fixed, plain suspension. Obverse; the laureate bust of Queen Elizabeth II.  Three obverse legend types are noted (see below). Reverse; Hercules fighting the nine headed hydra, with KOREA in exergue.
 

   Naming : British issue impressed in small sans serif capitals similar to the GSM 1918-62 , Canadian and Australian issue in taller sans serif capitals, with no unit on rank shown.
   Ribbon : yellow with two wide blue stripes.

Notes.
Collectors often refer to this medal as the  'Queen's Korea Medal.' to clearly distinguish it from the UN medal.
Also see: Medals of the Regiments for qualification by regiment for Infantry and Cavalry units.

The United Nations Korea Service Medal 1950 - 1954

     Instituted by the United Nations General Assembly on the 12th December 1950, and authorised for wear by the British Commonwealth forces on the 6th November 1951. The medal was awarded for one or more days service . Visits of  inspection required 30 days aggregate service to qualify. The qualifying area extended beyond that of the  Korean Peninsula and surrounding waters to included adjacent territories such as Japan and Okinawa. Recipients of the Queen's Korea medal qualified for this award, but as the UN medal could be awarded for service after the armistice and had a larger geographical catchment, it could therefore be awarded without the Queen's Korea Medal.
     Description: Original medals are in a copper coloured bronze alloy 36mm diameter, with a fixed suspender with integral fixed 'KOREA' bar. Obverse: the UN emblem ^N . Reverse bears the inscription FOR SERVICE IN DEFENCE OF THE PRINCIPLES OF THE CHARTER OF THE UNITED NATIONS
     The other nations involved have their own language versions of this medal: Amharic, Dutch, French, Greek, Italian, Korean, Spanish, Thai, Turkish, and Tagalog.
   Naming; issued unnamed apart from the Canadian issue which were impressed in san serif capitals. (see below)
   Ribbon : nine blue and eight white stripes.