Did You Know Killeen, Texas Has A Sister City In South Korea?

Did you know Killeen, Texas has a sister city across the globe in Korea?

Killeen Sister Cities, Inc (KSCI) was formed in 1983, under the guided umbrella of the Greater Killeen Chamber of Commerce. After three years of establishing the organizations nonprofit status, bylaws and affiliation with another country, Killeen, Texas and Osan, Korea became sisters in 1996.

The Original Origins

The original idea was thought up by President Eisenhower in 1956. His vision and goal for this concept was essentially to promote peace through mutual respect. He wanted to create an opportunity for like minds to work together helping to stimulate and develop economic and community partnerships by way of communication. Fostering these types of relationships and getting to know each other helps people to understand one another from different cultural perspectives.

A couple of KSCI's goals:

"create an atmosphere, in which economic and community development can be implemented and strengthened"... as well as to "collaborate with organizations of the United States and other countries which share similar goals."

Global Connections

Another cool thing about having a sister city in Korea, is the connection to Korea that our military servicemen and woman in Killeen already have with the country, by being deployed on regular rotations, right here from Fort Hood. From a historical perspective, it goes even deeper. You see, on July 5, 1950, Osan became the site of the first battle between American and North Korean forces during the Korean War.

Local Landmark Honoring Peace

Back in 2018, Killeen officials and special guests cut the ribbon on the  KSC Han Mi Pavilion, which is a symbol of the spirit of peace and friendship established between our two cities back in 1995.

If you're interested, here’s a Facebook page I found where you can keep up on what’s going on with Killeen Sister Cities, Inc. Look, they have an Annual International Festival coming up on October 15th. You can find more info about them on this site.