Speech on the 74th Anniversary of the Korean War > US Pacific Fleet > COMPACFLT Speeches

Good morning and aloha. Thank you, Consul General Lee, for the invitation to speak here.^th Anniversary of the start of the Korean War. Thank you to Lieutenant Governor Luke, the Korean War Veterans Association, members of Hawaii’s Congressional Delegation, members of the State Legislature, our Korean War veterans, and our Gold Star families. Thank you to the South Korean Consulate for your continued efforts to honor Korean War veterans during Alliance Day celebrations, during visits by South Korean ships to Hawaii, and through your various other efforts. Thank you all for joining us today in honoring the fallen of the Korean War.

On this day 74 years ago, etched in our collective memory, North Korean communist forces launched a brutal surprise attack on the Republic of Korea. Three days later, they marched into the stunned capital of Seoul. Seoul residents at the time struggled to process the sudden reality of the North Korean invasion, even as the noise of battle reached the city and the communist occupiers greeted the people of Seoul with propaganda, massacres, and the confiscation of personal property. Across the Korean peninsula, the communists unleashed a summer of terror. Kun Ho-Lee, a survivor of the 90-day communist occupation of Seoul, said afterward, “Look directly at the evil revealed. There can be no compromise, no concessions. There is clearly a need for struggle here. We may have to sacrifice everything, but only by winning this battle can we keep hope alive for humanity.”


The United States, the Republic of Korea, and the members of the United Nations answered the call to fight this fight and keep hope alive. Three months later, we landed together in Incheon and liberated Seoul. We marched together, as a united force, across the peninsula and saved the Republic of Korea.
The cost of the conflict was high. The evidence of that high cost is all around us today. Even now, we continue to find and identify victims of the Korean War. Each year, the Defense POW/MIA Accounting Agency searches sites in South Korea to find more remains. Right here at the Punchbowl, the DPAA is working to identify unidentified remains from the Korean War using cutting-edge technology. One such case is that of Private First Class Thomas Smith.


In the summer of 1950, Private Smith was a member of 2^and Squad, 3^rd Platoon, Company A, 3^rd Pioneer Combat Battalion, 24^th Infantry Division. In August, his unit was involved in defensive actions near Chinju at the southern end of the Korean Peninsula as part of the defense of Busan. While they were engaged in the fighting, Private Smith was reported missing. He was just seventeen years old. Although numerous Korean War remains were recovered in 1956, they could not be identified with the technology of the time. This group of unidentified remains, along with many others, were sent here to the Punchbowl, where Private Smith’s name is engraved in the Courts of the Missing right behind me. After many long decades without closure, his family assumed his body would never be recovered, and they gave up hope.


That’s not the end of the story, however. Experts at DPAA continue to identify Korean War remains by performing DNA matches with blood relatives of the missing. Just last month, DPAA announced that Private Smith’s remains had been identified from the unknown Korean War remains here at Punchbowl. Private Smith’s younger brother John had been waiting for this news since he was 7 years old when he last saw his brother. John’s brother will now receive a proper burial alongside his relatives in his hometown of Grant, Michigan.


Across our country, thousands of families like Private Smith’s are still waiting for the identification of their missing remains and for closure on the Korean War. We will not rest until we give them closure.


As we work to bring peace to the families of our missing from the past, we continue to work together to ensure security, stability, and prosperity for the future. Fifty-eight thousand Americans have lost their lives fighting for the Republic of Korea, and many more South Koreans have. The bond between the United States and the Republic of Korea is sealed by our shared sacrifices. That is why our bond is ironclad and unbreakable. We stand ready to fight with the Republic of Korea today, tonight, and tomorrow. We remain ready because the battle between dictatorship and democracy is worth winning.


If the story of an authoritarian country launching a brutal surprise attack on a neighboring country sounds familiar, that’s just how it is. Russia is doing this in Ukraine right now. North Korea is increasingly supporting Russia’s illegal invasion of Ukraine. In addition, North Korea continues to engage in dangerous and destabilizing behavior on the Korean Peninsula. Since the beginning of 2023, North Korea has launched over forty ballistic missiles in violation of United Nations sanctions, including a spacecraft carrying a spy satellite just last November.


North Korea has demonstrated several new weapons, including a new intercontinental ballistic missile, short-range missiles, submarine-launched missiles and long-range cruise missiles. In addition, North Korea has pledged to build nuclear weapons for tactical purposes and more modern delivery systems that will also enable attacks on US territory.


Their threats of nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles are aimed at maintaining the brutal communist regime, forcing diplomatic concessions and gaining widespread international attention.


We stand with the Republic of Korea and condemn dangerous activities by North Korea that violate international law and threaten to destabilize the region. We do not want conflict with North Korea. We are here to prevent it.

 

To prevent conflict, the U.S. Pacific Fleet provides consistent, credible, and capable combat power throughout the Indo-Pacific. In light of the threat posed by North Korea, we have increased our cooperation with the Republic of Korea, including bilateral and trilateral responses that demonstrate the capability and readiness of our combined forces.

The United States’ commitment to South Korea and the Korean people is enduring and unwavering, and any attack on South Korea by North Korea will be met with a swift, overwhelming, and decisive response. Our commitment to South Korea is supported by the full range of U.S. capabilities. Accordingly, we have increased the visibility of our strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula. Last year was a momentous year in the special alliance between our two countries.

In 2023, we witnessed the first visit by a U.S. nuclear-armed submarine to the Republic of Korea in over 40 years. We witnessed the first visit by a B-52 bomber to the Republic of Korea in 30 years, and the Republic of Korea’s historic integration into exercises with our allies and partners.

Together, we build on this momentum in 2024. Republic of Korea operations and activities deter North Korea and are a critical part of protecting maritime trade and communication routes in the expanded Indo-Pacific. The growth of U.S.-ROK bilateral relations and activities continues to accelerate. In April, I traveled to Seoul and Busan to meet in person with Republic of Korea military leaders, including ADM Kim, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, ADM Yang, South Korean Navy Chief, and VADM Choi, Commander of the South Korean Fleet. As I speak with you today, the carrier battle group THEODORE ROOSEVELT is visiting Busan, where just yesterday we were fortunate to visit with President Yoon. After departure, the battle group will participate in trilateral, multidisciplinary exercises with the Republic of Korea and Japan. At the same time, the South Korean Navy has arrived here on Oahu at Pearl Harbor for RIMPAC. They have sent two destroyers, a tank landing ship, a submarine and a company of Marines to participate in the largest naval exercise in the world.

This type of integration offers a future full of opportunities and endless possibilities. South Korea’s integration with the United States and all our allies and partners is critical because it strengthens the rules-based international order and brings benefits to all of us. This order is based on values ​​and ideals.

This includes preventing violent border changes, preserving freedom of the seas, and prohibiting the use of weapons of mass destruction. This is the foundation of the free and open Indo-Pacific. The United States is resolute in its commitment to this principle, and it is a guiding light around which our allies and partners can rally.

Today, 74 years after the start of the Korean War, over 28,000 U.S. troops are on the Korean Peninsula, ready to fight tonight as we remain committed to protecting the Republic of Korea. We have been in our alliance for seven decades now. Our destinies are united in this alliance of values. Each year it grows stronger and more capable. Each year the cooperation between our forces and our commitment to each other as likeminded nations deepens. Each year we come together to remember the hardships and sacrifices of the Korean War and those who fought in the war, and we stand on their shoulders. We owe it to them and their legacy to maintain our commitment, to face the challenges before us together, and to ensure a safe, stable, and secure future for our two great nations. Katchi Kapshida—we walk together! Thank you and Mahalo.