DEFINITIONS

For the purpose of this study:

Korean War veterans are defined as members of the Australian Army, Royal Australian Navy or the Royal Australian Air Force who landed in Korea or who entered the waters surrounding the coast of Korea within a distance of 185 kilometres seaward, including those who were seconded to the Army of the Republic of South Korea, the United States Air Force or Navy, the British Army, Navy or Air Force and any other allied Service; members of philanthropic organisations; members of the Australian Forces Overseas Fund and official entertainers and war correspondents who saw service in Korea between 27 June 1950 and 19 April 1956.

This definition excludes:

• members of the diplomatic corps;
• entertainers other than those who were regarded as ‘official’;
• members of the Army of the Republic of Korea or of any other army who have become Australian citizens subsequently;
• Australian citizens employed in Korea by overseas business organisations or governments; and
• civilian non-medical aid and charity workers other than members of philanthropic organisations who were accredited to the Australian Defence Force; and merchant mariners.

The term Service branch is used in this report to mean one or more of the three distinct arms of the Australian armed forces, namely the Royal Australian Navy, the Australian Army and the Royal Australian Air Force.

The population sample is a sample of Australian men aged 65 years and above, drawn randomly from the Australian Electoral Roll, and invited to participate in this study.

The comparison group is the subgroup of participating population sample subjects who reported that they were residing in Australia in 1953 or earlier. It is against this group that the health outcomes of the Korean War veteran participants are compared in the first Participant Results chapter (Chapter 6) of this report.