Civic group to celebrate 70th anniversary of S. Korea

The America-Korea United Society (AKUS), a New Jersey-based civic group, said Thursday it will hold an event in the United States to celebrate the 70th anniversary of the South Korea-US alliance.

AKUS said the ceremony will be held at the Fort Lee Community Center in New Jersey at 5 p.m. on Oct. 1 (US time) under the theme of "We Go Together."

South Korea and the US signed the Mutual Defense Treaty, a bedrock alliance document, in Washington, D.C., on Oct. 1, 1953, three months after the 1950-53 Korean War ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.

"Participants will look back on the history of the seven decades-long alliance and discuss joint efforts to achieve liberal democracy and market economy," an AKUS official said.

Bernard Champoux, formerly a three-star commander of the US Eighth Army in South Korea, will deliver a keynote speech on the alliance between Seoul and Washington, AKUS said.

AKUS is a nonprofit independent organization dedicated to promoting democracy in Korea and the US. (Yonhap)