S. Korea marks 62nd anniversary of Korean War Armistice Agreement 정전협정 62주년 행사

The hostilities in the Korean War ended with the signing of an armistice agreement at Panmunjom in 1953. To commemorate the 62nd anniversary of the historic event， a special ceremony was held at that venue today. Kim Hyun－bin brings us this report. The Korean War started on June 25th， 1950， when North Korean forces supported by the Soviet Union and China launched a surprise invasion of South Korea. Over the course of the resulting conflict，... 21 UN member states came to the defense of South Korea， with the U.S. providing the vast majority of the UN′s military personnel. After a bloody back and forth that lasted slightly more than three years，... an armistice agreement was signed on July 27th， 1953... closing one of the most harrowing chapters in Korea′s modern history. Some 180－thousand South Korean and allied troops lost their lives in the Korean War， but those numbers pale in comparison to the estimated one million South Korean civilians that died or went missing. ″The losses were devastating，... but their sacrifices will forever be remembered... as South Koreans and the nation are indebted for the freedom and prosperity enjoyed today.″ To commemorate the 62nd anniversary，... a ceremony was held on Monday at the Joint Security Area of Panmunjeom， the very location where the agreement was signed in 1953 by military delegates from the UN Command， North Korea and China. Deputy commander of the UN Command took the moment to mention the importance of the command′s role in the region especially when dealing with the communist North. ″ Today the armistice reflects the joint commitment to the international community to preserve peace and stability. Its maintenance continues to be a complex task especially when dealing with provocative actions of North Korea. A nation′s pursuit of nuclear weapons and long range ballistic missiles and proliferation of weapons of violation of UN Security Council resolution continue to threaten stability in this region and the world.″ The ceremony not only serves to mark the signing of the armistice agreement， it′s also a solemn reminder that the two Koreas are technically still at war. Kim Hyun－bin， Arirang News， Panmunjeom.