Fellow Veterans, Friends, and Members of the KWVA
July 27, 1953 is an important date because that is the date that the ceasefire ending the Korea War began—54
years ago and there is no peace treaty yet—although all the signers pledged to conclude one beginning
approximately 90 days after the signing (predicated on the final supervised repatriation of POWs)—there are
still 8,000 Americans missing and in most cases unaccounted for, 1.8 million Americans had served in Korea by
that date, and now 3 million since, the enemy has rearmed themselves with nuclear weapons—THE KOREAN WAR
VETERANS ASSOCIATION HAS STILL BEEN REFUSED FEDERAL RECOGNITION STATUS!
In view of these circumstances a cynical person might ask, So what’s the big deal? And an unthinking
response might be, well, I guess nothing, nothing after all. And that answer, as with most unthinking
responses, would be utterly wrong! After all you are reading these words—about 55,000 of our buddies from the
Korea War forever lost their ability to read, write, love, laugh, and the pursuit of happiness prior to July 27,
1953 and millions more—maybe you, maybe me—are doing all those things this side of July 27, 1953. Thank
God for July 27, 1953, and pray to God that there will yet be a date worthy of great celebration because a
PEACE TREATY ending our war and resulting in a unified nuclear free Republic of Korea has been concluded.
The following editorial by Dr. Song Jong-hwan, a former ROK Minister to the US, and a foremost negotiator
with the North Koreans, is reprinted by permission. Dr. Song Jong-hwan is a Visiting Professor of Myungji
University.
National President, KWVA/US
Chairman of the Board
FREEDOM IS NOT FREE
Staff Reporter Kim Jong-eun
The Future Korea Journal
Interview with Dr. Song Jong-Hwan, Visiting Professor of Myungji University
July 27 is the 54th anniversary of the armistice agreement for the Korean War that started in June 25, 1950.
During the Korean War, 54,246 American soldiers and 628,833 Korean and UN soldiers died. 103,284 Americans
and 1,064,453 Korean and UN soldiers were wounded. They are staggering figures compared to the total
American deaths of approximately three thousand people in the Iraq War.
In Washington, D.C., over 3.2 million people visit the Korean War Veterans Memorial to honor the men and
women who died during the Korean War. They would see a group of 19 sculpted soldiers carrying rifles
walking through a rice paddy and finally would stop to pay tribute at a 49 meter-long black granite memorial
with over 2500 photographic images of veterans.
The memorial reads "Our Nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they
never knew and a people they never met." Below this sentence is a famous saying clearly inscribed in
silver letters, "Freedom is not free."
We, the Republic of Korea, survived the war and grew to become world's top 10 economy through priceless
sacrifices and struggles of the veterans from Korea, America and 22 other participating countries.
However, many people are under false impression that there is impending peace and reunification in the Korean
peninsula after the 6.15 North-South Korean Agreement. Subsequently, we seem to increasingly forget the
veterans' sacrifices on which we are built.
The president and the administration, along with some opposing party members seem to simplistically think
that there will be true peace in the peninsula as long as they conclude a peace agreement. To that end,
they are focusing on initiating summit talks.
The historical lesson we need to remember is that we do not get true freedom and peace for free. We
need to be determined and ready to defend what we hold dear, especially in the face of North Korean nuclear
threats.
http://www.futurekoreajournal.com/index.asp?go=content§ion=English&id=193