Obama, Thurman Commemorate Korean Armistice Anniversary

WASHINGTON, July 27, 2011 — As Pres­i­dent Barack Oba­ma com­mem­o­rat­ed the anniver­sary of the armistice agree­ment that estab­lished a demil­i­ta­rized zone between North and South Korea and brought an end to fight­ing there, the top U.S. offi­cer in Korea empha­sized today the need for inter­na­tion­al coop­er­a­tion to curb the North Kore­an aggres­sion the armistice was draft­ed to pre­vent.

Speak­ing dur­ing armistice anniver­sary cer­e­monies along the demil­i­ta­rized zone, Army Gen. James D. Thur­man echoed the mes­sage Joint Chiefs of Staff Chair­man Navy Adm. Mike Mullen deliv­ered ear­li­er this month in the South Kore­an cap­i­tal of Seoul. 

We ask the glob­al com­mu­ni­ty to assist in con­vinc­ing North Korea that its path to secu­ri­ty and pros­per­i­ty lies in the ces­sa­tion of its provoca­tive behav­ior, bet­ter rela­tions with its neigh­bors and com­plete, irre­versible denu­cleariza­tion,” Thur­man said. 

Thur­man offered his com­ments as a top North Kore­an diplo­mat vis­its New York at Sec­re­tary of State Hillary Rod­ham Clinton’s invi­ta­tion for talks aimed at restart­ing the stalled Six-Par­ty Talks. 

North Kore­an Vice For­eign Min­is­ter Kim Kae-gwan was slat­ed to meet today with Stephen Bosworth, the Oba­ma administration’s envoy for North Korea, at the Unit­ed Nations. 

Mean­while, Oba­ma marked the armistice anniver­sary rec­og­niz­ing the ser­vice mem­bers who fought for South Korea’s free­dom in that con­flict and con­tin­ue to help pro­tect it today. 

The pres­i­dent declared today Nation­al Kore­an War Vet­er­ans Armistice Day, mark­ing 58 years since the sign­ing of what was thought to be a tem­po­rary mea­sure to end open hos­til­i­ties on the Kore­an penin­su­la until a peace treaty could be signed. 

No peace treaty has ever been agreed to, how­ev­er, leav­ing a ten­ta­tive peace between North and South Korea that some­times has erupt­ed into conflict. 

North Korea launched a tor­pe­do attack in March 2010 that sunk the South Kore­an navy ship Cheo­nan and killed 46 sailors. In Novem­ber, a North Kore­an artillery attack on Yeon­pyeong Island killed four, includ­ing two South Kore­an ser­vice members. 

Today, Oba­ma took the oppor­tu­ni­ty to rec­og­nize the sac­ri­fices of those who sac­ri­ficed after the Kore­an penin­su­la erupt­ed in con­flict on June 25, 1950, and con­tin­ue to defend South Korea today. 

Today, we express our unend­ing grat­i­tude to all who fought and died in pur­suit of free­dom and democ­ra­cy for the Kore­an penin­su­la,” he said in his proclamation. 

For three years, our armed forces fought to help keep Korea free, suf­fer­ing bit­ter rever­sals and win­ning stun­ning vic­to­ries before the Mil­i­tary Armistice Agree­ment at Pan­munjon secured the bor­der near the 38th Par­al­lel,” he said. “Togeth­er, Amer­i­can ser­vice mem­bers and allied forces were part of a gen­er­a­tion that, in the words inscribed at their memo­r­i­al in Wash­ing­ton, defend­ed ‘a coun­try they nev­er knew and a peo­ple they nev­er met.’ ” 

The vet­er­ans’ courage and sac­ri­fice enabled South Korea to flour­ish, and the U.S.-South Kore­an alliance remains “stronger than ever” today, Oba­ma said. 

Togeth­er, the Unit­ed States and South Korea con­tin­ue to advance free­dom and sta­bil­i­ty not only on the penin­su­la, but across East Asia and around the world, he said. 

Oba­ma paid spe­cial trib­ute to the tens of thou­sands of troops who died pro­tect­ing South Korea and rec­og­nized those who have con­tin­ued to guard the bor­der since hos­til­i­ties offi­cial­ly con­clud­ed. “Their self­less sac­ri­fices have had a pro­found impact on the pro­mo­tion of free­dom across the globe,” he said. 

The pres­i­dent empha­sized the nation’s respon­si­bil­i­ty to care for these vet­er­ans and their families. 

On Nation­al Kore­an War Armistice Day, we recom­mit to sup­port­ing our ven­er­a­ble war­riors and their fam­i­lies, and we pay our deep­est respects to those who laid down their lives,” he said. 

Source:
U.S. Depart­ment of Defense
Office of the Assis­tant Sec­re­tary of Defense (Pub­lic Affairs) 

Team GlobDef

Seit 2001 ist GlobalDefence.net im Internet unterwegs, um mit eigenen Analysen, interessanten Kooperationen und umfassenden Informationen für einen spannenden Überblick der Weltlage zu sorgen. GlobalDefence.net war dabei die erste deutschsprachige Internetseite, die mit dem Schwerpunkt Sicherheitspolitik außerhalb von Hochschulen oder Instituten aufgetreten ist.

Alle Beiträge ansehen von Team GlobDef →