LEAD: Dignitaries, vets mark 50th anniv. of Korean armistice

0 Comments | Asian Political News, July 28, 2003

SEOUL, July 27 Kyodo

(EDS: UPDATING WITH FRESH DETAILS)

About 2,500 people including foreign dignitaries and veterans who fought in the Korean War on the side of South Korea on Sunday commemorated the 50th anniversary of the armistice agreement that effectively ended the war.

The ceremony organized by the U.N. forces in South Korea was held at the truce village of Panmunjom, which straddles the border between South and North Korea in the middle of the Demilitarized Zone (DMZ), officials said.

The attendees included New Zealand Prime Minister Helen Clark, who is now on a five-day trip to South Korea, former U.S. Secretary of State Henry Kissinger, U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Leon LaPorte and South Korean Defense Minister Cho Young Kil, Yonhap News Agency reported.

About 900 veterans from 21 countries that joined U.N. forces in the war to support South Korea were among the participants, Yonhap said.

Gen. LaPorte was quoted as saying in a speech that the armistice agreement is the first step toward peace on the Korean Peninsula and its unification.

''We all will do our best to work for the freedom and peace of South Korea,'' he was quoted as saying. ''We are also ready to extend help to the peace and unification of the Koreas.''

Retired Gen. Paik Sun Yup, a South Korean war veteran, said, ''South Korea has emerged as the world's 12th-largest trading nation thanks to the veterans of the 21 countries.''

Clark called on North Korea to accept the concept of multilateral talks to defuse the crisis arising from its nuclear ambitions. She reportedly said the war can only be officially terminated when a peace treaty is signed and North Korea emerges from its isolationism and seize the opportunity to become a member of the global community.

After the ceremony, the participants unveiled a monument for the anniversary and held a memorial service for those who died in the war, Yonhap reported.

North Korea earlier rejected an invitation to take part in the ceremony, denouncing the event as being aimed at ridiculing it.

The North's Korean Central News Agency reported Sunday that a series of events were held in the country to celebrate the 50th anniversary of the ''Victory in the Great Fatherland Liberation War.''

In Seoul, President Roh Moo Hyun reaffirmed the South Korean government's commitment to provide assistance North Korea needs if the North abandons its nuclear ambitions.

''North Korea should come to the dialogue forum as early as possible. I strongly urge the North to abandon its nuclear ambitions and opt for the path toward peace and coexistence,'' Roh was quoted by Yonhap as saying in a speech at a commemorative event.

''When North Korea chooses this path, Korea and the rest of the international community will provide all the aid it needs,'' he said.

The 50th anniversary came amid growing tensions on the Korean Peninsula over North Korea's nuclear weapons program. In defiance of international calls to abandon its nuclear ambitions, Pyongyang has reportedly been pushing ahead with its program to develop nuclear arms.

The three-year Korean War erupted in June 1950 as North Korea crossed the 38th parallel into South Korea. The United Nations mounted a collective defense supporting South Korea against the North Korean invasion.

Truce talks began in 1951 and concluded with an armistice agreement signed July 27, 1953. The armistice has effectively left the Koreas divided at the DMZ and in a state of war.