Herald hosts forum to mark 70 years of Korea-US alliance

Herald Corp. is hosting a forum in Seoul on Wednesday to commemorate seven decades of the Korea-US alliance, forged in the wake of the 1950-53 Korean War.

The forum, titled “The ROK-US Alliance Plus,” will be held from 2.30 p.m. through 8 p.m. at the Shilla Hotel Dynasty Hall in Seoul and will also commemorate the 70th anniversary of The Korea Herald’s foundation.

Renowned international personalities, including former US Vice President Al Gore and former Tokyo Gov. Yoichi Masuzoe, will share their views on the alliance’s role at this current historical turning point.

Starting with opening remarks by Herald Corp. chairman Jung Won-ju, the forum will also see Prime Minister Han Duck-soo give special remarks as an invited speaker.

Congratulatory remarks will be delivered by Kim Gi-hyeon, chairman of People Power Party; Philip S. Goldberg, US ambassador to South Korea; Oh Se-hoon, mayor of Seoul; Sohn Kyung-shik, chairman of the Korea Enterprises Federation; and James Kim, chairman of American Chamber of Commerce in Korea.

Al Gore, who is also the winner of the 2007 Nobel Peace Prize, will give a keynote speech on “The Role of ROK-US Solidarity in Addressing Our Planet’s Greatest Challenges.”

Yoichi Masuzoe, Japan’s former minister of health, labor and welfare and former governor of Tokyo, will speak about the need for a stronger trilateral strategic alliance among South Korea, the US and Japan in the face of North Korea’s growing nuclear threat, and how to expand their partnerships.

Willard Burleson III, commanding general of the US 8th Army and chief of staff of the Combined Forces Command, will also be speaking.

Jun Kwang-woo, chairman of the Institute for Global Economics and founding chairman of the Financial Services Commission, will discuss how Korean, US and Japanese companies can collaborate amid a global supply chain reorganization in his speech titled “Global Geo-economic Challenges and Response Strategies.”

The forum will offer an opportunity to discuss widening the scope and definition of global partnerships while highlighting the importance of the alliance between Korea and the US.

Photographs of Koreans and US troops in South Korea from 1953-54, taken by a US army photographer and provided at the courtesy of his family, will also be on display as part of the event.

The Korea Herald was founded in 1953 in the aftermath of the Korean War under the historical mission of “the herald of the reconstruction of the Republic of Korea.”

It has since grown into the nation’s top English-language newspaper, and its sister paper, Herald Business, serves as the country’s only evening business daily paper.

The year 1953 also marked the beginning of the Korea-US alliance, with the Mutual Defense Treaty signed on Oct. 1. It is Seoul’s only such accord with a foreign country to the present day.