By Reporter Lee jon young
President Yoon Suk-yeol and First Lady Kim Keon-hee attended the ceremony commemorating the 70th anniversary of the UN Forces' Participation Day and the Armistice Agreement.
During the ceremony, President Yoon personally greeted and showed the utmost respect to each of the 62 UN veterans who participated in the UN forces. He also personally guided Ted Eddie, a Canadian UN veteran, to his seat, the last veteran to enter the stage.
At this event, the soldiers of the Hanbit Unit from South Sudan, who marked their 10th anniversary of deployment, recited the oath of allegiance to the flag during the citizen's salute. Dame Cindy Kiro, the Governor-General of New Zealand, delivered a message on behalf of the UN participating countries. Additionally, Patrick Fine, a US veteran who fought in the Marine 1st Division, and Colin Thackeray, a British veteran who won Britain's Got Talent as the oldest contestant in 2019, sang "Amazing Arirang" together with the combined choir, touching the hearts of everyone present.
During the ceremony, two UN veterans and their families received government commendations. President Yoon personally awarded the Order of the Red Stripes to the late Private Thomas Conlon Parkinson, an Australian veteran who led the construction of the Melbourne Korean War Memorial, and presented a Certificate of Commendation to Donald Reid, a US veteran who contributed to the construction of the US-Korea War Memorial and the development of Korea-US relations.
Approximately 300 representatives from UN participating countries, veterans, and their families attended the ceremony. Among them were Minister Park Min-sik of the Ministry of Patriots and Veterans Affairs, Minister Lee Jong-seob of the Ministry of National Defense, Chairman Lee Bae-yong of the National Education Commission, Mayor Park Hyung-jun of Busan, and other government officials, as well as General Park Jung-hwan, Chief of Staff of the Army, Admiral Lee Jong-ho, Chief of Naval Operations, General Jung Sang-hwa, Chief of Air Force Operations, Brigadier General Ahn Byung-seok, Deputy Commander of the ROK-US Combined Forces Command, Major General Kim Gye-hwan, Commandant of the Marine Corps, Andrew Harrison, Deputy Commander of the UN Command, and Scott Flohr, Deputy Commander of the US Forces in Korea. In addition, there were about 2,600 attendees, including Yun Jae-ok, the floor leader of the People Power Party, representatives from various fields, citizens, students, and others.
