TAEGU, South Korea — A couple who have opened their home to American servicemembers for almost three decades were among six South Korean citizens honored at a dinner by the U.S. Army here Saturday.

The six were honored at Camp Walker’s Evergreen Club and were given certificates thanking them for their efforts at promoting U.S.-South Korean friendship.

The dinner was part of the U.S. military’s new Good Neighbor Program, which aims to foster improved relations between American forces and the South Korean populace.

Maj. Gen. Jeanette K. Edmunds, commander of the 19th Theater Support Command, and Col. James M. “Mike” Joyner, 20th Area Support Group commander, presented the awards. Both units are headquartered at Camp Henry.

“This is just a small token of our appreciation to our Korean friends and neighbors who have generously given their time and effort to support activities that foster good will, mutual respect and better understanding between our two nations,” said Army Maj. Andrew Mutter, 19th Theater Support Command public affairs chief.

The honorees are: Ahn Byung-hyup and his wife, Sohn Young-ok, who started a home-visitation program for U.S. soldiers in the Taegu area in 1974; Cho Suh-won of Keimyung University’s Dongsan Medical Center, which provides some medical services to the U.S. military community in Taegu; Hwang Jong-yeon, a martial arts expert who gives self-defense training to a local U.S. military police unit; Shin Sang-il, president of the Association of the United States Army’s Taegu chapter, which has donated tuition assistance funds to American soldiers; and Yoo Nam-ho, coach of Taegu’s Samsung Lions professional baseball team, who donates game tickets for members of the U.S. military community.

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