By Jung Sung-ki
Staff Reporter
The government's ad hoc committee for commemorating the 60th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean War began holding war memorial events abroad Tuesday.
The first "Thank You" event will be held in the Netherlands in cooperation with the South Korean Embassy there and the Dutch government, the Ministry of Patriots and Veteran Affairs said in a news release.
Similar events will take place in 20 other nations which offered a helping hand to South Korea during the war.
About 350 people, including Dutch Korean War veterans and South Korean residents, will attend the event at the post of the Regiment Van Heutsz, an infantry unit that participated in the war, it said.
"Through these events abroad, we'd like to express our deepest gratitude to the nations who fought alongside South Korea under the U.N. flag and honor the solemn sacrifice and contribution of their troops 60 years ago," a ministry official said. "It will also serve as an opportunity to further strengthen relations with the participating countries as well as raise the international profile of South Korea, which rose from the ashes of the war to become one of the world's economic powers."
On July 26, the committee will hold a ceremony at Capitol Hill in Washington, D.C. with the attendance of U.S. Korean War veterans, he said.
"It's so meaningful to hold that ceremony at Capitol Hill because at that place, the U.S. participation in the Korean War was approved," the official said. The date also marks the Korean Armistice Agreement signed on July 27, 1953.
A ceremony in the United Kingdom will be held on the floating HMS Belfast Museum on June 25 and that in France will take place at the Arc de Triomphe and the Army Museum Les Invalides.