President Park Geun-hye Wednesday paid tribute to American troops killed in the 1950-53 Korean War as she began the second day of her visit to the United States.
Park laid down wreaths at the Korean War Veterans Memorial and observed a moment of silence as a military brass band played somber music.
"I came here to convey South Koreans' mind that (we) will not forget those who helped us when we were in trouble," Park told a group of surviving veterans and family members of those who served in the war at the ceremony that drew about 120 people.
High-profile participants included Clifton Truman Daniel, the eldest grandson of former U.S. President Harry Truman, and retired Col. Thomas Fergusson, a grandson of Edward Almond, the late commanding general of the U.S. X Corps.
Almond helped about 98,000 North Korean refugees evacuate by deciding to dump all weapons overboard to get more refugees aboard evacuation ships at the port of Heungnam in 1950.
The December 1950 operation, known as the "Heungnam evacuation," took place as the U.S.-backed South Korean forces began retreating from North Korea after China sent a massive number of troops to fight alongside the communist neighbor.
"The refugees needed help so I'm very proud that he made the decision to do his best with the help of the Navy to bring them out to safety," Fergusson said later in an interview with a pool reporter as he recalled a conversation with his grandfather.
Park also later shook hands with some of the participants at the War Memorial.
"You are the true hero. Countless of Koreans are alive today thanks to you," Park told retired Rear Adm. J. Robert Lunney, who served as a crew member of the S.S. Meredith Victory that brought 14,000 North Korean refugees from Heungnam to South Korea during the war.
"We look back with great pride having helped Korean people, the Republic of Korea to maintain its integrity and the freedom of its people," Lunney later said in an interview with the reporter. "The only access to freedom was port Heungnam, and the only way they could get out was our ship. We were the last ship out from Heungnam with the refugees through the minefields all the way to" South Korea's southeastern port of Busan.
The memorial -- which honors American soldiers killed during the Korean War -- was the first event Park attended since she arrived in Washington on Tuesday for talks with U.S. President Barack Obama later this week.
More than 36,500 U.S. soldiers sacrificed their lives to help defend South Korea.
"I will further strengthen the South Korea-U.S. alliance," Park said, noting the bilateral friendship forged during the war revived liberal democracy in South Korea.
The conflict ended with a cease-fire agreement, not a peace treaty, leaving the two Koreas technically at war. (Yonhap)
