South Korea and the United States pledge to strengthen alliance at dedication ceremony… President 尹 “shows the strength of the ROK-U.S. alliance”
America’s Second Gentleman “I will stand side by side with Korea”… Engraving the names of the dead on the granite
On the 27th (US time), a wall of remembrance of the dead, engraved with the names of 43,808 US soldiers and KATUSA Soldiers who died in the Korean War, was unveiled as a new symbol of the strong ROK-U.S. alliance.
On the day of the 69th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, on the 69th anniversary of the Korean War Armistice Agreement, the U.S. side of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation held a dedication ceremony for the ‘Wall of Remembrance for the Fallen in the US Korean War’ at the Korean War Veterans Memorial Park in Washington DC.
The dedication ceremony was attended by Minister of National Defense Lee Jong-seop, Minister of National Veterans Affairs Park Min-sik, Ambassador to the United States Cho Tae-yong from South Korea, and from the United States, Vice President Husband ‘Second Gentleman’ Doug Emhoff, White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan, and John Turalley, Chairman of the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, respectively. attended
About 2,000 people, including US veterans and local Koreans, attended.
President Yoon Seok-yeol had the Minister of Veterans and Veterans Affairs read the congratulatory remarks.
Construction of the wall of remembrance began in March last year, and the completion ceremony and dedication ceremony were held on the same day, the day of the armistice agreement in the Korean War.
In the center of the sculpture, a wall of 1m high granite material was erected at an angle to the 130m perimeter of the ‘Memories Pond’, and the names of 36,634 American and 7,174 KATUSA Soldiers killed were engraved on the wall in the order of military, rank, and alphabet.
A total of 100 granite panels with a thickness of regarding 72 cm and a weight of 4 to 8 tons were used, and 53 of them have the names of the second and first officers engraved, which vividly conveys the fact that many young American and KATUSA soldiers at that time were oxidized on the battlefield.
The names of KATUSA Soldiers were also engraved on the wall of the commemoration, making it the first case of engraving the names of non-Americans among the memorial sculptures in the United States.
In his commemorative speech delivered by the Minister of Veterans Affairs and Veterans Affairs, President Yoon gave meaning to the completion of the memorial wall, saying, “It was erected as a sculpture that shows the strength of the Korean-American blood alliance.”
“The Korean government and people will forever remember your sacrifice and dedication,” said President Yoon.
“Second Gentleman,” Emhoff, who attended on behalf of President Joe Biden, said, “We will continue to stand side by side with South Korea. The wall of remembrance is a concrete and eternal reminder of this promise.”
Ambassador Jo Tae-yong gave great significance to the erection of the wall of remembrance and called the names of countries that participated in the Korean War one by one.
The erection of the wall of remembrance was difficult to implement due to lack of funding despite the passage of the ‘Memorial Wall Construction Act’ in the US Senate on October 7, 2016.
Of the 27.4 billion won ($24.2 million) budget spent on building the memorial wall, 26.6 billion won was supported by the Ministry of Veterans Affairs, and the rest was financed by donations from the Korean War Veterans Memorial Foundation, the Veterans Association, Korean companies, and the public.
The Ministry of Veterans Affairs will also support the renovation budget in the future.
/yunhap news
