Korean war 70th anniversary sees calls for peace, disarmament

North Korea invaded the US-backed South in 1950, triggering a bloody three-year war which technically still continues

South Korea and the US reaffirmed their commitment to defending peace, while North Korea said it needs its nuclear arsenal to deter a US invasion

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Korean war veterans salute before a monument during a ceremony marking the 70th anniversary of the start of the Korean war, at the Baengmagoji War Memorial in Cheorwon, near the DMZ separating North and South Korea. Photo: AFP

Published: 2:45pm, 25 Jun 2020Updated: 2:45pm, 25 Jun 2020

Low-key commemorations were held on Thursday to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean war, which killed and injured millions, left large parts of the Korean peninsula in rubble, and technically still continues.

South Korea and the United States marked the occasion by reaffirming their commitment to defending “the hard-fought peace” on the divided peninsula, while North Korean state media reiterated that “a ceasefire is not peace”.

Communist North Korea invaded the US-backed South on June 25, 1950, triggering the three-year war. Fighting ended with an armistice that was never replaced by a peace treaty, leaving the peninsula divided by the demilitarised zone and still technically at war.

“On this day in 1950, the US-ROK military alliance was born of necessity and forged in blood,” US Secretary of Defence Mark Esper and his South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo said in a joint statement.

South Korean actors wearing military uniforms release pigeons during a ceremony to mark the 70th anniversary of the outbreak of the Korean war. Photo: AP

They urged North Korea to implement the disarmament pledges it made in past talks, saying the allies will keep pushing for diplomacy aimed at achieving the North’s complete denuclearisation.