Royal New Zealand Air Force Flight Lieutenant Logan Black is on deployment with the United Nations Command Military Armistice Commission (Uncmac) in South Korea.
Uncmac is responsible for monitoring the ceasefire between North and South Korea, which has been in place since the end of the Korean War in 1953.
Fl Lt Black has spent the past three months conducting inspections, observations and investigations in the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), a 4km wide area that separates the two Koreas.
He has been impressed by the wealth and facilities in South Korea, particularly the well-developed roads, but has also noticed some significant cultural differences.
For example, while everyone in the New Zealand Defence Force is a volunteer, South Korea relies on conscription for its military personnel.
Last month he met a soldier who had studied at Auckland University but put his studies on hold to do his conscription period in South Korea.
There was also a significant number of New Zealanders in South Korea.
"We always seem to be bumping into someone," Fl Lt Black said.
One of the highlights of his deployment has been the opportunity to observe the remains repatriation effort at White Horse Hill, a site similar to Mt Maunganui in its size.
The horse-shaped hill experienced some of the most intense fighting during the Korean War when it changed hands 10 times in 10 days in 1952.
It got its name from its coating of ash after being hit by about 250,000 artillery rounds and having 2700 bombs dropped on it.
The South Korean team working on remains repatriation at the site recovered 55 human remains.
It worked in the middle of DMZ overlooked by North Korean troops and surrounded by landmines.
"This country is just so grateful for the people who sacrificed themselves, like, 70 years ago . . . These guys just go out there everyday and recover somebody’s great granddad," Ft Lt Black said.
Ft Lt Black has also visited the UN War Memorial Cemetery in Busan, where 34 New Zealanders are buried.
For Christmas, Fl Lt Black said he was fortunate to have his partner coming to visit and the couple were planning to celebrate with Korean barbecue with red bean sauce.
Other New Zealanders on the deployment who were working would be having a sit-down lunch together, Fl Lt Black said.
