Fellow Koreans, American friends of Korea and freedom-loving people of the world who share with us the common commitment to the cause of peace and freedom on the Korean Peninsula, we invite you today to, together, remember the successful launching of one of the most daring landing operations the world has ever seen that drove the North Korean Communist invaders into rout to cause a major turn of the tide in the Korean War of 1950∼1953 and, at the same time, one of the greatest commanders held in highest esteem around the world on account of his successful execution of the immortal military feat. 

It is needless to say that, had it not been for the miraculous success of the landing operation carried out under the on-site command of General Douglas MacArthur, in his capacity as supreme commander of the United Nations forces committed to Korea, along the beaches of this port city of Inchon on that September day, the Korean War was doomed to end up as a total defeat of the UN forces not without the prospect that the rest of UN forces bleeding for months defending the ever-dwindling piece of the last remaining stronghold called the Pusan  Perimeter would have been pushed into the sea off the south-eastern tip of the peninsula.

Alas, the people of the Republic of Korea, with all the courage and fortitude that Gen. MacArthur himself described as 'magnificent' enough to 'defy description' as they 'chose to risk death rather than slavery,' owed so much to the general's unchallenged heroic military leadership for the success in avoiding their subjugation to an enslavement by the Communist North Korean tyranny.

As we commemorate this 68th landmark anniversary in the life of the republic today, we cannot help feeling obliged to be reminded of the fact that Gen. MacArthur's commitment was by no means confined merely to the recapture of Inchon from the North Korean aggressors as he was driven by an even more far-sighted vista where he felt a dire need to preemptively act against a looming global menace posed by the international Communism spearheaded by the Soviet Union and Communist China. It was in the wake of Communist China's massive involvement in the Korean War on the side of North Korea, under the preposterous excuse of 'Chinese Volunteers,' in the winter of 1950 when General MacArthur began sounding alarms against the 'policy of appeasement' as a means to deal with the impending Communist perils that he suspected was gaining ground in Washington.  

In describing the nature of the Korean War, General MacArthur warned that the West was failing to realize that Asia was now the place where 'Communist conspirators have elected to make their play for global conquest' and that the West was 'fighting Europe's war in Asia with arms while diplomats in Europe still fight with words.' He admonished the West that, 'should we lose the war to Communism in Asia, the fall of Europe will be inevitable' and declared that, 'if we win the war in Asia, then Europe most probably will avoid war and yet preserve freedom,' saying that there was 'no substitute for victory.'

In General MacArthur's thought, the choice of 'appeasement' in dealing with the Communists was bound to 'lead merely to a sham peace, but begetting new and bloodier war.' In a booklet that he published in 1952, entitled 'Revitalizing A Nation,' General MacArthur highlighted the 'tragedy of Korea' saying that, 'of the nations of the world, Korea alone, up to now, is the sole one which has risked its all against Communism,' warning that 'our failure to sustain our solemn commitments in Korea will probably mean the ultimate loss of all of continental Asia to international Communism.'

General MacArthur was dismissed as Commander-in-Chief of the United Nations Command by President Harry S. Truman in April 1951 leaving the door open for the war to be halted in a cease-fire in the absence of either the winner or the loser as a result of the Armistice Agreement of July 27, 1953.  65 years thereafter, the Korean Peninsula still retains the status of a dormant volcano now with nukes and ICBMs illicitly developed by North Korea creating a touch-and-go state of heightened military tensions.

As we mourn today the passing of the towering figure 54 years ago, the ringing aphorism of Gen. MacArthur, one of the five Generals of the Army whom U.S. Army has ever produced thus far, still resonates loud and clear to those of us Koreans as we continue to feel immensely indebted to him not merely for survival alone but also for peace, incomplete as yet as it may be, freedom, security and prosperity that we enjoy today: 'It is not a question of who wants war and who wants peace. All men of good conscience earnestly seek peace. The method alone is in issue. Some, with me, would achieve peace through a prompt and decisive victory at a saving of human life, others through appeasement and compromise of moral principle, with less regard for human life. The one course follows our great American tradition, the other but can lead to unending slaughter and our country's moral debasement.'

It is our humble hope that General MacArthur's resounding aphorism will find its own way to those in Seoul as well as Washington who are responsible for the on-going interaction with North Korea with respect to its hazardous nuclear and ICBM gambit.

May God bless the noble soul of General Douglas MacArthur!