Background
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THIS MEDAL WAS CREATED BY THE R.O.K. DEFENSE MINISTRY FOR AWARD TO U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL STATIONED IN SOUTH KOREA DURING THE CEASE-FIRE PERIOD.  IT WAS AWARDED AND DISTRIBUTED IN 1972.  

THE JCS/PENTAGON REFUSED TO ACCEPT THE AWARD ON BEHALF OF U.S. MILITARY PERSONNEL IN 1974.  THE JCS REASON FOR THE REJECTION IS BASED ON A STANDING RULE THAT THE U.S. WILL NOT ACCEPT A FOREIGN MEDAL TO BE AUTHORIZED FOR WEAR BY ACTIVE MEMBERS UNLESS THE U.S. HAS AWARDED A MEDAL FOR THIS SERVICE AND THE FOREIGN MEDAL IS ALSO BEING AWARDED TO MILITARY PERSONNEL OF THE COUNTRY MAKING THE AWARD.

IF FORMER U.S. ARMY CHIEF OF STAFF, GEN. ERIC SHINSEKI, IS ALLOWED TO BE AWARDED THE ROK NATIONAL SECURITY MERIT MEDAL FOR HIS LEADERSHIP IN DEFENSE OF THE ROK, THE TROOPS IN PLACE FOR 12 OR MORE CONTINUOUS MONTHS IN DEFENSE OF THE SAME ROK SHOULD BE ENTITLED TO THE AWARD OF THE ROKSM.  WHY ARE THE TROOPS UNDER LONG HARDSHIP TOURS LESS DESERVING?

WE ARE NOT ASKING FOR A MEDAL FROM THE R.O.K.   WE ARE PETITIONING TO HAVE A MEDAL ALREADY AWARDED BY THE R.O.K. FOR KOREA DEFENSE SERVICE TO BE RE AWARDED AND THIS TIME ACCEPTED BY THE JOINT CHIEFS.  

Dept of Defense military service decorations and awards policies limit a service member to only one decoration for the same act, achievement, or period of service.  In cases where multiple medals are awarded it has been the policy to allow the recipient to choose one or the other, but not both.  The one-time exception has been employed allowing both to be worn.  This also applies where medals are awarded back to back for the same war/conflict/operation and the latter medal eligibility date is pushed back overlapping the period of the former.

It is also policy that no foreign medals will be accepted unless: 1) the U.S. also has awarded a medal for this service,  2) the foreign medal is also awarded to armed forces members of the country making the award. 

1. Multiple Medals for the Same Action:
  a) Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal and Korea Defense Service Medal - The Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness has approved as an exception to policy to authorize service members who qualified for the Armed Forces Expeditionary Medal (AFEM) by reasons of service between 1 Oct 66 and 30 Jun 74, in the area for which Korean Defense Service Medal (KDSM) was authorized subsequently to be eligible for both the AFEM and KDSM.  Award of the KDSM for this time period is a one-time exception to policy to comply with section 543 of the National Defense Authorization Act of Fiscal Year 2003, Public Law 107-314.
   b) Kosovo Campaign Medal and AFEM and Armed Forces Service Medal - Sec. 2. Relationship to Other Awards. Notwithstanding section 3 of Executive Order 10977 of December 4, 1961, establishing the 
AFEM and section 3 of Executive Order 12985 of January 11, 1996, establishing the Armed Forces Service Medal (AFSM), any member who qualified for those medals by reasons of service in Kosovo between March 24, 1999, and May 1, 2000, shall remain qualified for those medals. A one-time exception was applied here. Upon application, any such member may be awarded the Kosovo Campaign Medal (KCM) in lieu of the AFEM or the AFSM, but no person may be awarded more than one of these three medals by reason of service in Kosovo, and no person shall be entitled to more than one award of the KCM.  Again, a one-time exception was applied.    
   c) AFEM and AFSM - In 1996, Secretary of Defense William S. Cohen approved the award of the AFEM in addition to the AFSM to qualifying service members participating in or providing direct support to Operation Joint Endeavor or Operation Joint Guard . Since U.S. military participants in these operations were awarded the AFSM for their peacekeeping efforts in the Former Republic of Yugoslavia, the award of the AFEM for both of these operations was possible only as an exception to policy.
   d) AFEM and VSM - Individuals qualified for the AFEM for service in Vietnam between 1 July 1958 and 3 July 1965 shall remain qualified for the medal. Upon request, the individual may be awarded the Vietnam Service Medal in lieu of the AFEM. In such instances, the AFEM will be deleted from the list of authorized medals in the individual’s personnel records. No person shall be entitled to both awards for Vietnam Service.  The exception here is allowing the AFEM recipient to make a choice between one or the other medals.
   e) AFEM or Global War on Terrorism Expeditionary Medal and Afghanistan or Iraq Campaign Medals -  Under no condition shall soldiers receive separate campaign medals (GWOTE or AFEM) for the same action, time period or service stated Michael Dominguez, Deputy Undersecretary of Defense for Personnel and Readiness. - Exception to this regulation - Those qualifying for the GWOTE for service in Afghanistan may opt to replace the GWOTE for the ACM and those qualifying for the GWOTE for service in Iraq may opt to replace the GWOTE for the ICM.  Those not opting to replace the GWOTE are not eligible for the campaign stars awarded with the ACM or ICM.  The exception here is again allowing the qualifying soldier to make a choice between one or the other medals.

* * * EXCEPTIONS TO MEDALS POLICY ARE COMMON * * *

Excerpts - SECDEF Annual Report to Congress FY2000

10 Important Things to Remember When Making Contact

Contacts (Send letters to these addresses)

ROK REGIONAL CONSULATES (Call, send letters and faxes)

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*ROK War Medal - Now Authorized for Korean War Veterans

     The Department of Defense has announced the criteria for U.S. military veterans of the Korean War to wear the Republic of Korea War Service Medal (ROKWSM), ending a five-year effort by veterans organizations to obtain eligibility guidelines.
     The ROKWSM was originally offered to the Armed Forces of the United States in 1951. In a Nov. 15, 1951 letter ROK Ministry of Defense Ki-Poong Lee offered the medal to the Commander in Chief of the United Nations Command for members of the U.S. Armed Forces who served in Korea and adjacent waters between June 25, 1950 and a termination date.
     Most of the U.S. veterans had apparently never known about its existence, and although other nations approved the wearing of the medal, the U.S. apparently had not. After the memorial dedication a series of letter writing and telephonic campaigns by veterans groups occurred, eventually reaching the Office of the Secretary of Defense. On Aug. 20, 1999, the Secretary of Defense approved the acceptance and wear of the medal. Since then, the Department has been coordinating the guidelines for eligibility and purchase with the Republic of Korea, the Department of Veterans Affairs, various veterans organizations and from within the Department. A Department spokesman said the effort was expedited because: "we wanted to ensure that all of our U.S. veterans had the opportunity to wear the medal at the 50th anniversary events at Arlington Cemetery and the Korean War Memorial on June 25, 2000. It's the least we could do."
     In 1998 the government of the Republic of Korea reaffirmed that its original offer of the ROKWSM was still valid. It provided the following criteria and period of eligibility:  Dates of eligibility: June 25, 1950 (outbreak of hostilities) to July 27, 1953 (the date the armistice was signed).
     The eligibility period and criteria were specified by the government of the Republic of Korea and cannot be waived.
     The government of the Republic of Korea will not finance the reproduction of the medals or grant retroactive conferrals. Individuals can purchase a reproduction from a Republic of Korea authorized designated manufacturer. The address for the manufacturer is as follows:

110-420
Jung IL SA (Mr. CHANG Hui Kwan)
Kwan Su Dong 130-2, Jong Ro Gu, Seoul City
SEOUL , KOREA
Telephone: Seoul 2267-0806

Interesting Read

FOREIGN AWARD AUTHORIZATION

When the United States entered the First World War, its troops were soon placed in an entirely new situation. For the first time in its history, American soldiers were sent abroad in large numbers to fight along with foreign allies against a common enemy. These foreign allies quickly acknowledged American valor by awarding their decorations to our troops; however, a problem quickly developed. On November 26, 1917, fifteen American soldiers, the first to withstand enemy attack, were given the French Croix de Guerre but had to put them in their pockets because they were prohibited by the Constitution from wearing them. Section 9 of Article I of the United States Constitution specifically states that, "No title of nobility shall be granted by the United States: And no person holding any Office of Profit or Trust under them, shall, without the Consent of the congress, accept any present, Emolument, Office, or title, of any kind whatever, from any King, Prince, or foreign State." Foreign medals fall squarely within the Constitutional prohibition. Fortunately, the restriction is not absolute as medals and decorations may be accepted with the "consent of Congress." Congress quickly passed legislation allowing American military personnel to accept foreign decorations, and during the First World War a large number of foreign decorations were awarded to Americans. The decorations most frequently awarded included those of France (the Legion of Honor, Medaille Militaire, and Croix de Guerre); Great Britain (the Military Cross, Distinguished Conduct Medal, and Military Medal); Belgium (Croix de Guerre), and Italy (War Merit Cross).
     Since then Congress has passed legislation permitting the acceptance of foreign awards from friendly foreign governments for specific periods of military action. However, the awards must have been presented and accepted by the recipient within the inclusive dates authorized by Congress. The specific authorizations (and their respective time periods) are:
     -- World War II: December 7, 1941, through July 24, 1948 (Public Law 80-314);
     -- Berlin Airlift: June 26, 1948, through September 20, 1951 (Public Law 81-503);
     -- Korean War: June 27, 1950, through July 27, 1955 (Public Law 83-354); and,
     -- Vietnam: March 1, 1961, to March 28, 1974 (Public Law 89-257).
     Congress granted its consent generically in Public Law 95-101 (Section 7 of Title 5, United States Code), when it said medals and decorations can be accepted subject to certain conditions and restrictions. In the case of the Armed Forces, the law is implemented in Department of Defense Directive 1005.13 (first issued on June 7, 1983). Decorations and medals offered to members of the Armed Forces must be one that is also conferred by the foreign government on its own armed forces. For example, South Korea created a medal in 1972 intended for American military personnel who served in Korea during the Cold War. The U.S. government has not allowed American forces to accept the medal because it is not awarded to members of the South Korean Armed Forces (rejected in 1974 by JCS).
     The United States is not alone in imposing limitations on the acceptance of foreign awards and decorations. In England their restrictions began in an interesting way: it was based on the custom of monarchs personally granting orders of knighthood. Queen Elizabeth I, when told that one of her subjects was to receive a foreign order of knighthood, reportedly said, "My dogs shall wear only my Collars." The British Government has long restricted the right of members of the British armed forces to accept and wear foreign decorations, a policy that has been effect since the reign of Queen Victoria (1837-1901). This practice is still embodied in what is known as the "Queen's Rules," which severely restrict the kinds of foreign awards that can be accepted and worn.
     During the Korean War the United Nations awarded its own service medal to countries that participated in military operations under United Nations authority. Most of the countries involved also issued their own campaign medal (for example, the United States issued the Korean Service Medal to those who participated in the Korean War). By the same token, the Republic of South Vietnam awarded a service medal for participation in the Vietnam War, and American military personnel were authorized to accept and wear this medal along with the campaign medal specifically authorized by the United States for the same service (the medal given to Americans by the Vietnamese government was also awarded to South Vietnamese personnel). After the Gulf War the Kingdom of Saudi Arabia authorized a campaign medal for the Liberation of Kuwait, and the United States permitted members of the Armed Forces to accept this medal.