hankyoreh

on June 28

“If it hadn’t been for those who fought in the Battle of Chosin Reservoir, if the operation to evacuate the port of Hungnam hadn’t been successful, my life would probably have never begun, and I would not be here today,” said President Moon Jae-in.

On June 28, Moon laid a wreath at a memorial to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir (also called the Changjin Lake Battle) at the National Museum of the Marine Corps in Washington as the first stop on his visit to the US. The Battle of Chosin Reservoir was a desperate struggle by the US’s 1st Marine Division, which was encircled by seven divisions of the Chinese army (120,000 soldiers) near Changjin Lake, in the Kaema Highlands, in the winter of 1950. The American forces managed to delay the Chinese push southward, which is thought to have made a critical difference in enabling the UN forces to evacuate from Hungnam, South Hamgyong Province.

President Moon Jae-in listens to a veteran’s explanation of his photo at the National Museum of the Marine Corps

During the wreath-laying ceremony, which was attended by figures connected with the Hungnam evacuation and their family members, along with US Deputy Secretary of Defense Robert Work and US Marine Corps Commandant Robert Neller, Moon explained how his family’s story was connected to the Battle of Chosin Reservoir and to the Hungnam evacuation. “Thanks to the remarkable courage of the veterans who fought at Changjin Lake, the operation to evacuate Hungnam succeeded at rescuing more than 100,000 refugees. My parents were among the refugees who boarded the SS Meredith Victory during that operation,” Moon said.

“There are no words in the world that could express my appreciation for your sacrifices and dedication. I’m deeply moved by the love for humanity felt by the American soldiers who rescued so many refugees from North Korea at that critical juncture,” Moon said.

“South Korea remembers your sacrifices and dedication and that of your parents. The South Korea-US alliance will become an even greater and stronger alliance because it was sealed in blood amid the gunfire of war and because it’s tightly linked to the lives of each and every person in our two countries,” Moon said.

During a commemorative address, Neller said that President Moon’s family had personal ties with the Marines and with the 1st Marine Division in particular and expressed his gratitude to Moon for valuing those ties.

Immediately after his address, Moon planted a hawthorn tree in the area. “The South Korea-US alliance will grow into a lusher tree and will bear the great and profitable fruit of a unified Korean Peninsula,” he said.

By Lee Se-young, staff reporter in Washington DC

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