The Ministry of National Defense has finally delivered the actual Taegeuk Order of Military Merit medal awarded 74 years ago to General Douglas MacArthur, the first commander of UN forces during the Korean War.

Maj. Gen. Lee Kyung-koo, Korea's defense attache to the United States, delivered the medal to Kenneth Alexander, the mayor of Norfolk, Virginia, at a ceremony at the MacArthur Memorial on Friday.

MacArthur received Korea's highest military honor from then-South Korean President Syngman Rhee on September 29, 1950, to mark the recapture of Seoul. Since the medal had yet to be produced, he received another medal in its place with an agreement to exchange it later.

The Defense Ministry explained that it finally made good on the delivery after recently confirming that the MacArthur Memorial possessed only a certificate for the award.

The MacArthur Memorial is the burial place of the General and his wife, Jean MacArthur. Friday was both his birthday and the 60th anniversary of the memorial's founding.

In a letter to the ministry, MacArthur's son, Arthur MacArthur IV, offered his gratitude, saying the award is a testament to his father's legacy that "forever binds him to the people of Korea."