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US Congress Resolution on the Korean War

Posted April. 22, 2010 07:38,   

한국어

To mark the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Koran War, a resolution to further strengthen the bilateral alliance between South Korea and the U.S. was submitted to the U.S. House of Representatives last week. Submitted by Republican Congressman Ed Royce of California, the resolution got bipartisan support. A bill to mark the 60th anniversary of the war’s outbreak presented in December last year by Republican Congressman Sam Johnson of Texas, a Korean War veteran, is also pending in the Congress. The bill urges the U.S. to hold events to commemorate the war for four years from this year.

The resolution submitted by Rep. Royce brings up North Korea’s invasion of South Korea and capture of Seoul; U.S. President Harry Truman’s order to dispatch the U.S. Navy and Air Force to South Korea; the U.N. forces’ Incheon landing and recapture of Seoul; China’s military intervention; the 1953 Korean armistice; and the erection of Gen. Douglas MacArthur’s statue. In addition, the resolution urges also Washington to further solidify its close military and economic relations with South Korea.

The resolution said the U.S. and South Korea are traditional allies sharing common values, adding the importance of the bilateral partnership will grow. This relieves Seoul’s worry over national security. The readjustment of the dissolution of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command and the U.S. transfer of wartime operational command to Seoul scheduled for April 17, 2012, will be in line with the spirit of the alliance as called for by the resolution. One of the resolution’s passages says expanding the military partnership into vigorous economic cooperation will maintain close bilateral cooperation, sending a positive signal to the future of the bilateral free trade agreement awaiting congressional ratification.

By mentioning 20 countries excluding the U.S. that either sent soldiers or medicine, the resolution remembers the sacrifice of those countries to help South Korea. The resolution said 37,000 U.S. soldiers lost their lives in the war but mistakenly wrote that 46,000 South Korean soldiers were killed. According to the National Institute of Korean History, the death toll for the South Korean military was 137,899 soldiers.

U.S. President Barack Obama and U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Walter Sharp offered their condolences over the deaths of the crewmen from the sunken South Korean naval vessel Cheonan and helped rescue and search efforts. Taking this opportunity, the two countries should send a strong message to North Korea that if it refuses to give up its number ambition and desire to communize South Korea, the communist country will be further isolated. Hopefully, the strong bilateral military alliance and economic partnership will help determine the cause of the sinking and draw up countermeasures.

Regrettably, however, the National Assembly in Seoul is doing nothing to express the country’s gratitude for the sacrifices made by countries that sent soldiers to fight in the Korean War, including the U.S. Those who are ungrateful for the help of others will not get assistance when they badly need it. This also applies to national relations.