Obama: S. Korea has become one of America`s closest allies

On Thursday, two days before the 60th anniversary of the Korean War, U.S. President Barack Obama announced the Presidential Proclamation,” which calls for declaring July 27 as the “2013 National Korean War Veterans Armistice Day.”

“This anniversary marks the end of a war. But it also commemorates the beginning of a long and prosperous peace,” President Obama said in the presidential proclamation. “In six decades, the Republic of Korea has become one of the world`s largest economies and one of America`s closest allies”

“Together, we have built a partnership that remains a bedrock of stability throughout the Pacific. That legacy belongs to the service members who fought for freedom 60 years ago, and the men and women who preserve it today,” Obama said.

“We remember the troops who hit the beaches when Communist forces were pressing south; who pushed back, and fought their way north through hard mountains and bitter cold,” the proclamation reads. “We remember ordinary men and women who showed extraordinary courage through 3 long years of war, fighting far from home to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.”

President Obama will be the first U.S. head of state to attend a commemorative ceremony to be hosted by the U.S. Defense Department at the Korean War Memorial Park in Washington on Saturday, on the occasion of the 60th anniversary of the Korean War armistice.

With various events scheduled to mark the 60th anniversary, a reception hosted by the South Korean Embassy at Caucus Room in Cannon House Office Building at the U.S. Congress in Washington on Thursday brought together more than 200 people, including members of the U.S. House of Representatives and Senate, President Park Geun-hye’s special envoys, and Korean War veterans.

Rep. Charles Rangel, a Korean War veteran and honorary chairman of the Korea Caucus, a member of the House’s pro-Korea Americans, said many American soldiers fought for freedom in an align land, and that the Korean War is no longer a “forgotten war” thanks to efforts by South Koreans and Americans.

Retired full-general Paik Seon-yeop (94) of South Korea, who is admired as a Korean War hero, confidently stood at the podium and delivered a speech in English about fierce battles he experienced, even without a script. “Currently, South Korea looks peaceful, but North Korea’s three-generation Kim regime is constantly seeking to invade the South,” he said, stressing, “The South Korea-U.S. alliance is stronger than ever before.”