Prime Minister Han Duck-soo and National Assembly Speaker Kim Jin-pyo hosted a celebratory reception Wednesday to mark the 70th anniversary of South Korea's alliance with the United States.
The reception was held at the National Assembly, bringing together key figures from both sides, including Lt. Gen. Willard M. Burleson, the commander of the Eighth U.S. Army, and Joy Sakurai, deputy chief of mission at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul, Seoul Mayor Oh Se-hoon as well as lawmakers from the rival parties.
President Yoon Suk Yeol was in Washington for a six-day state visit designed to celebrate the alliance. Yoon was the first Indo-Pacific leader to make a state visit to the U.S. under the administration of President Joe Biden.
In his remarks, Han commemorated "omnidirectional" cooperation between the two countries, based on shared values such as freedom, democracy and human rights achieved in the past seven decades. He further expressed his hope for a "comprehensive" alliance between the two countries in the future.
South Korea and the U.S. signed their mutual defense treaty in October 1953, months after the end of the three-year Korean War.
Source: Yonhap News Agency