President Moon Attends 6·25 War Event... Personally Welcomes War Dead Returning After 70 Years

On the 23rd (local time), at the Korean War veterans' remains handover ceremony held at the Joint Base Pearl Harbor-Hickam (JBPHH) in Hawaii, USA, the South Korean military remains excavation and identification team wrapped the remains of South Korean soldiers who died in the Korean War, excavated from North Korea and transferred to Hawaii, with the Taegeukgi flag. June 24, 2020. [Image source=Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy Reporter Son Sun-hee] President Moon Jae-in will attend the '70th Anniversary of the Korean War' event held at 8:20 p.m. on the 25th at the Seoul Airport hangar in Seongnam-si, Gyeonggi Province, to personally welcome the remains of fallen soldiers returning after 70 years. This is President Moon's first time attending the Korean War commemoration ceremony.

According to the Blue House, the event, hosted by the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, is held under the theme 'To the Heroes' to pay tribute to all those who dedicated themselves to protecting the nation during the Korean War.

President Moon is scheduled to personally welcome the remains of fallen soldiers from the U.S. and then enter the venue with six family members of the repatriated remains. The repatriated remains are those of Korean War soldiers identified through joint forensic work by the U.S. Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency (DPAA) and South Korea. Among them, the identities of seven soldiers who died in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir were confirmed in advance. The 140 unidentified remains were placed in a casket installed at the venue.

To facilitate the return of the remains, on the 21st, Park Jae-min, Deputy Minister of National Defense, led the repatriation team and sent the Air Force’s latest aerial refueling aircraft, the Cygnus (KC-330), to Hawaii, USA. The remains of the fallen soldiers were placed in passenger seats, and after entering the Korean Air Defense Identification Zone (KADIZ) around 4 p.m. the previous day, six Air Force fighter jets escorted the aircraft to Seoul Airport.

The Blue House stated, "The 147 remains of fallen soldiers arriving today are a precious result of 25 years of efforts between the U.S. and North Korea to excavate and repatriate remains, as well as joint efforts between South Korea and the U.S." It added, "Since the 1990s, remains excavated from North Korean territory were transferred to the U.S. through U.S.-North Korea cooperation, and through joint identification efforts by South Korea and the U.S., they were finally confirmed as Korean War fallen soldiers."

President Moon will personally award service medals to 13 identified Korean and U.S. war dead. These medals are awarded to soldiers and civilian military personnel who participated in specific wars or national emergencies regardless of their merits.

Additionally, a Medal of Honor will be awarded to the family and two bereaved relatives of one surviving Korean War veteran whose service was confirmed after 70 years. A gratitude medal expressing appreciation for the heroes will also be presented to Cha Soo-jung, Vice President of the 6.25 Veterans Association, representing approximately 84,000 surviving veterans.

Notably, for the first time, video messages from U.S. President Donald Trump and the leaders of 22 United Nations (UN) member countries that participated in the war were delivered at the event. Ambassadors from all 22 countries attended on behalf of their heads of state, reaffirming international solidarity with the Korean War participant countries.

Due to COVID-19 resurgence concerns and related quarantine measures, the number of attendees, including veterans, foreign diplomats in Korea, and key government officials, was significantly reduced to about 300 people. Furthermore, considering the health of elderly attendees amid the summer heat, the event was held in the late afternoon.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.