Obama Marks Veterans Day with US Troops in Seoul

U.S. President Barack Obama has marked the U.S. Veterans Day holiday during his visit to South Korea, saying the U.S. will never waver in its commitment to defend the Asian country.

In an address at a U.S. military base in Seoul Thursday, President Obama paid tribute to the 28,000 U.S. troops stationed there, saying their presence is helping to safeguard democracy.

Mr. Obama also recognized the U.S. troops who fought and died in the three-year Korean War, which began 60 years ago when communist North Korea invaded the South.

The president says the Korean War has been described as “Die for a Tie” because the fighting ended in a truce instead of a peace treaty. But he called it a victory, because of South Korea’s “thriving democracy and its grateful, hopeful citizens.”

He ended his speech by quoting an inscription on the Korean War Memorial in Washington, D.C., which reads: “Our nation honors her sons and daughters who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.”

In the United States, Vice President Joe Biden participated in a solemn wreath-laying ceremony at the national veterans cemetery in Arlington, outside Washington.

He noted that only 1 percent of America is fighting in the wars in Iraq and Afghanistan, but said 100 percent of the country owes those soldiers for their service.

Meanwhile, Mr. Obama’s wife, first lady Michelle Obama, visited U.S. troops stationed at Ramstein Air Base in Germany.

Mrs. Obama served steaks to soldiers and their families during a stopover on her return trip to Washington from Asia, where she has been traveling with the president.

Veterans Day is observed on the date in 1918 when the cease-fire agreement was signed that ended the battles of World War One (“the 11th hour of the 11th day of the 11th month”). It is observed in Europe and elsewhere as Armistice or Remembrance Day.

The holiday was observed in the U.S. as Armistice Day until 1954, when then-President Dwight Eisenhower signed a measure changing the name at the urging of veterans’ service organizations, which wanted to pay tribute to U.S. veterans of all wars.

Mr. Obama also used his speech to condemn North Korea for continuing on a course that he says deepens its isolation from the rest of the world. He urged the communist North to engage with the international community about its nuclear program, or risk making the lives of its people even harsher.

President Obama said the Korean peninsula provides the world’s clearest contrast between a society that is open and one that is closed. He said North Korea still has an opportunity to change its path.

Some information in this story was provided by AP.