A group of retired South Korean military officials and their acquaintances are seeking to purchase an old U.S. cargo ship that saved the lives of thousands of Korean refugees during the Korean War.
 
Retired Marine Brigadier General Yoon Kyung-won said on Friday that his group will soon launch a nonprofit organization dedicated to the purchase of the SS Lane Victory.  
 
The decommissioned vessel is currently used as a history museum at a port near Los Angeles.
 
Those working for the takeover of the U.S. ship estimate they need around five billion won to purchase it. They plan to turn the inside of the ship into a museum of the Hungnam evacuation.
 
The Hungnam evacuation refers to a joint mission by the South Korean military and the UN armed forces to take 91-thousand civilians and 105-thousand soldiers out of the port city of Hungnam in South Hamgyong, North Korea in December of 1950 to escape from the on-rushing Chinese military. 
 
One of the 193 ships used for the mission, the SS Lane Victory evacuated around seven-thousand civilians. 
 

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