Today marks the 64th Memorial Day in Korea, and President Moon Jae-in says it is the country's duty to remember each individual who has sacrificed their life in service of the nation, and repay their dedication -- no matter what.
Attending a Memorial Day service at Seoul National Cemetery, the president promised that every effort will be made to fulfill the nation's duty to those who sacrificed themselves for Korea.
Referring to the inter-Korean military agreement reached last September, the president said his country will keep making efforts to excavate more remains on the inter-Korean border while eliminating landmines in the Demilitarized Zone, as promised.
He then added that it is the duty of the country to locate everyone who has dedicated themselves to their nation-- and that the country will do so until every last person is found.
The president also said the country has been working to repay those sacrifices through legalizing the accident compensation act for public workers and increasing the pensions for the service members who died while on duty.
The president also called for unity before patriotism, and said there cannot be a gap between conservatives and liberals. He added that as long as the country avoids extremes and defines patriotism within the realm of common knowledge, the nation can move closer to becoming an integrated society.
According to South Korean officials at the site, a body was discovered during an underwater search along the River Danube, at around 9:20AM on Wednesday local time.
The victim has been identified as a man in his sixties who had been onboard the tour boat that sank.
Rescuers also discovered the remains of a woman in her thirties some 50 kilometers downstream from the site of the accident, and later found the body of a woman in her forties near the wreckage of the boat. All three victims were South Korean.
Out of the 35 people onboard the Mermaid tour boat last week, only seven are known to have survived.
Korean and Hungarian authorities plan to work on lifting the sunken Mermaid as early as Thursday.
A huge floating crane arrived in Northern Budapest on Wednesday and is waiting for water levels to subside so it can safely reach the site of the accident
The Korean embassy's defense attaché told reporters in Budapest that authorities from both countries are trying to prevent the loss of bodies by securing the vessel and preparing for a possible salvage.
U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo brushed aside North Korean demands that Washington soften its nuclear negotiating posture, but says America remains open for talks, despite North Korea's provocative rhetoric.
In an interview with the Washington Times, Pompeo said the U.S. stance that North Korea must abandon nuclear weapons if it wants sanctions relief has remained “unambiguous” since President Trump’s personal diplomacy with Pyongyang first gained momentum.
Stressing that Kim Jong-un agreed to give up his nuclear arsenal nearly a year ago at the Singapore summit, Pompeo said the North needs to do what its leader said it would do.
The state secretary reiterated that denuclearizing Pyeongyang remains a high priority, but that it will take time, and he complained that President Trump isn't given sufficient credit for rallying world powers to put pressure on the regime.
Chinese President Xi Jinping and his Russian counterpart Vladmir Putin have agreed there is no better way than dialogue to peacefully achieve the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
Speaking to reporters after their bilateral summit on Wednesday, Putin said that he and Xi saw eye to eye on the matter as well as other "major global and regional issues."
In their joint declaration, the two leaders agreed on the need to "maintain the principle of denuclearization in return for the security and development of North Korea."
The document also stresses the need to simultaneously pursue denuclearization as well as the establishment of a "peace regime" on the Korean Peninsula.
Source: Arirang News
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