Korean War, Vietnam War Veterans honored in Derby
Lieutenant Governor Susan Bysiewicz, Derby Mayor Joe DiMartino, and State Rep. Mary Welander (D-114th) were among the speakers at the event.
University of New Haven alum donates $10M for new building
'These events are so important because it's one small way to redress an unfortunate part of history where people felt very strongly about the war and some people were very angry about it and they took out their anger on people who were serving, and so we learned a very important lesson from those who served in Vietnam,' Bysiewicz said.
The ceremony also paid tribute to those who lost their lives while shining a light on the survivors and their families.
'We know that everyone comes back carrying their experiences with them,' Rep. Kara Rochelle (D-104th) said. 'And it's my hope that you have found a community in Connecticut among fellow veterans and that we are truly expressing how we care for you.'
This was the 114th recognition of Vietnam veterans.
Copyright 2025 Nexstar Media, Inc. All rights reserved. This material may not be published, broadcast, rewritten, or redistributed.
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UPI
a day ago
- UPI
On Korea's Liberation Day, a drone show calls for reunification
1 of 9 | At the Korean Dream Hangang Festa, held Friday, drones create an image of soldiers over a caption reading "the pain of division." Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI SEOUL, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- As South Korea commemorated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Friday, a festival on the banks of Seoul's Han River called for the unification of the divided Peninsula. The Korean Dream Hangang Festa featured music, fireworks and a show of over 1,200 drones that lit up the night sky with messages of hope for reunification. Former South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan led the organizing committee for the event, which carried the theme "Beyond the Miracle on the Han River, to National Harmony and a Unified Korea." "This is not a festival -- it is the starting point of a meaningful journey toward the epochal ideal of the Korean dream," Chung said in opening remarks Friday. The Aug. 15 anniversary not only marks Korean liberation, Chung noted, but also the beginning of the division between the two Koreas. "We stand at a crucial turning point," Chung said. "The Korean dream is a vision that transcends a history of division and conflict, building a new narrative of reconciliation and shared growth." As evening fell, a swarm of drones created images including the Korean Peninsula, the Korean flag and the modern skyline of Seoul, while spelling out phrases such as "One Korea." Thousands of citizens donated to help fund the event, organizers said, with many sponsoring individual drones. The festival also unveiled a new song, "Korean Dream: Come, O Glorious Light," performed by the quartet Son E Ji U. The event's call for unification comes during a low period in inter-Korean relations. In October, North Korea revised its Constitution to declare the South a "hostile state" after leader Kim Jong Un called for the rejection of the long-held official goal of reunification. Earlier on Friday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung made a pitch for improved ties with the North, saying in his Liberation Day address that Seoul has "respect" for North Korea's political system and would not seek "unification by absorption." Pyongyang has continued to rebuff Seoul's recent overtures, however. On Thursday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, called the efforts at reconciliation a "pipedream."
The Hill
a day ago
- The Hill
South Korea's anti-American president is coming to Washington
South Korea's leftists and rightists held competing demonstrations in the capital city of Seoul today, which is the nation's National Liberation Day. This year, the country celebrated the 80th anniversary of the end of Japanese rule. The day also is the 77th anniversary of the founding of the Republic of Korea, or South Korea. The crowds this year were especially large because they came soon after Lee Jae-myung's win in the June 3 snap presidential election. The contest, marred by widespread irregularities, was held to replace Yoon Suk Yeol, who was impeached and later removed from office following his short-lived declaration of martial law in early December. The competing gatherings in the capital city were an early gauge of Lee's popularity. He has been a particularly divisive figure so far. Soon after the demonstrations, Lee will reportedly head to Washington for a visit starting Aug. 24. His visit to the White House with President Donald Trump, expected for Aug. 25, could be one of the most important meetings ever between an American and a Korean leader. Lee is virulently anti-American. At stake, therefore, is the future of the treaty relationship between Washington and Seoul. Democracy in South Korea is also at risk. Lee, in the name of democratic governance, is fast taking steps to end it. While publicly aligning himself with the U.S., Lee has moved to undermine the fundamental basis of his country's partnership with America, the formal military alliance, formed in 1953 just months after the Korean War armistice. While campaigning for the presidential nomination of the Democratic Party of Korea in July 2021, Lee called American troops in his country an ' occupying force.' Even more explosively, he has blamed the U.S. for maintaining Japan's colonization of Korea. Lee's leftist party, known as Minjoo, has a history of both opposing close ties with Washington and actively building relations with Beijing and Pyongyang. Lee, as president, has wasted no time chipping away at Korea's relationship with the U.S. For instance, in a move that will degrade military readiness, the annual Ulchi Freedom Shield joint exercise scheduled to begin on Monday, will be drastically scaled back — especially the crucial field training component of the 10-day event. South Korea's Ministry of Defense cited logistical adjustments to the training cycle for the changes in the exercises, but they were in reality the result of pressure from Lee. Unification Minister Chung Dong-young noted North Korea's criticisms of the joint drill when he publicly demanded the reduction of the exercises. On Aug. 7, a Unification Ministry official, speaking anonymously to the press, confirmed that the exercises were 'adjusted' due to concerns about North Korea's reaction. Of greater concern, on July 21, Lee's government conducted a raid on the Osan Air Base, which is jointly operated by U.S. Forces Korea and the Republic of Korea Air Force. Specifically, Special Prosecutor Cho Eun-seok entered the Master Control and Reporting Center, operated by both militaries, in violation of the Status of Forces Agreement because there was no prior notification of the American military. Cho seized classified radar data and information on the U.S. Air Force's U-2 surveillance plane. Tara O, a former U.S. Air Force lieutenant colonel who served at Osan, told me that 'Cho and his large team absolutely should not have had access to such classified information.' The raid preceded the cancelation of at least two high-level exchanges between Washington and Seoul. The first was a planned July 21 meeting between Secretary of State and National Security Advisor Marco Rubio and Korea's National Security Advisor Wi Sung-rak, and the second was the '2+2' trade meeting. The Korean representatives to the talks were notified the meeting was called off just as they were about to board a plane to travel to the U.S. President Lee has also been attacking South Korea's democratic institutions. He led the effort in the National Assembly, the country's unicameral legislature, that paralyzed Yoon's government by filing 22 impeachment motions. Lee, after leading the effort to impeach Yoon for his Dec. 3 declaration of martial law, then used the impeachment power to destabilize the interim government of Acting President Han Duck-soo. After the country's Constitutional Court removed Yoon, Lee had Yoon imprisoned on spurious charges of 'insurrection.' 'Lee and his party have created a false narrative of insurrection,' Morse Tan, a former U.S. ambassador-at-large for Global Criminal Justice, said to me this month. Lee's government has held Yoon in inhumane conditions. 'The Democratic Party of Korea jailed Yoon in a tiny cell in sweltering weather, and they have been denying him medications,' O, now at the East Asia Research Center, told me. Some fear Yoon will die in custody, but that does not appear to concern the ruling party. 'Even if he lives, he must live in prison, and even if he dies he must die in prison,' said Kim Byung-kee, Minjoo's floor leader in the National Assembly. Yoon is not the only target of the ruling party. Lee's government has been constricting free speech on social media platforms, investigating citizens for nothing more than lawful assembly and free expression, raiding houses of worship and moving to outlaw the main opposition party. On Wednesday, South Korean prosecutors raided the office of the People Power Party. 'These are the things done by leftist dictatorships,' said Tan. 'The attack on freedom is ferocious.' The U.S. has endured previous leftist, anti-American presidents in South Korea — to be specific, Kim Dae Jung, Roh Moo-hyun and Moon Jae-in. There is apparently a feeling in Washington that the U.S. can similarly outlast Lee Jae-myung. Perhaps America can. But Lee, unlike his predecessors, is more determined and ruthless. America's alliance with South Korea might not survive Lee's rule, and its democracy is in even greater danger.
NBC News
a day ago
- NBC News
South Korea's president vows to restore 2018 inter-Korean military agreement to ease tensions
SEOUL, South Korea — South Korea 's new liberal president, Lee Jae Myung, said Friday that he will seek to restore a 2018 military agreement with North Korea aimed at reducing border tensions and urged Pyongyang to respond to Seoul's efforts to rebuild trust and revive dialogue. Speaking on the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee's overture came amid soaring tensions fueled by North Korean leader Kim Jong Un 's nuclear ambitions and deepening ties with Russia over the war in Ukraine. The 2018 military agreement, reached during a brief period of diplomacy between Kim and South Korea's former liberal President Moon Jae-in, created buffer zones on land and sea and no-fly zones above the border to prevent clashes. South Korea's previous conservative government suspended the deal in 2024, citing tensions over North Korea's launches of trash-laden balloons toward the South, and moved to resume frontline military activities and propaganda campaigns. The step came after North Korea had already declared it would no longer abide by the agreement. 'To prevent accidental clashes between South and North Korea and to build military trust, we will take proactive, gradual steps to restore the (2018) Sept. 19 military agreement,' Lee said in a televised speech. Lee said his government affirms 'our respect for the North's current system' and that the wealthier South 'will not pursue any form of unification by absorption and has no intention of engaging in hostile acts.' Lee said South Korea remains committed to an international push to denuclearize North Korea and urged Pyongyang to resume dialogue with Washington and Seoul. Amid a prolonged diplomatic stalemate with its rivals, Kim's government has made clear it has no intention of giving up the weapons it sees as its strongest guarantee of survival and that it would reject any future talks on denuclearization. 'Denuclearization is a complex and difficult task that cannot be resolved quickly,' Lee said. 'However, inter-Korean and U.S.-North Korea dialogue as well as international cooperation will help us approach a peaceful resolution.' Japan's defeat in World War II liberated Korea from colonial rule, but the peninsula was then divided into a U.S.-backed, capitalist South and a Soviet-supported, socialist North — a separation cemented by the devastating 1950–53 Korean War. Lee, whose speech came days before he plans to travel to Japan for a summit with Prime Minister Shigeru Ishiba, took a conciliatory tone toward Tokyo, calling for the fellow U.S. allies to overcome grievances rooted in Japan's brutal colonial rule and develop future-oriented ties. However, he noted that some historical issues remain unresolved and called on the government in Tokyo to 'squarely face up to our painful history and strive to maintain trust between our two countries.' Lee's meeting with Ishiba will come just before he flies to Washington for a meeting with President Donald Trump over trade and defense issues, a setup that underscores how Trump's push to reset global trade and U.S. security commitments is drawing the often-feuding neighbors closer. Ishiba, eager to improve ties with Seoul, has acknowledged Japan's wartime aggression and has shown more empathy toward Asian victims than his recent predecessors. In a ceremony marking his country's surrender 80 years ago, Ishiba expressed 'remorse' over the war, which he called a mistake, restoring the word in a Japanese leader's Aug. 15 address for the first time since former Prime Minister Shinzo Abe took it out in 2013. Lee, who took office after winning an early election in June following the ouster of his conservative predecessor Yoon Suk Yeol over a brief imposition of martial law in December, has taken steps to repair ties with the North, including the removal of South Korean frontline loudspeakers that Yoon's government had used to blast anti-North Korean propaganda and K-pop across the border. It is unclear whether North Korea would respond to Lee's overture. Expressing anger over Yoon's hardline policies and expansion of South Korean-U.S. military exercises, Kim declared last year that North Korea was abandoning its long-standing goal of a peaceful unification with South Korea and rewrote the North's constitution to mark the South as a permanent enemy. Lee's speech came a day after Kim's powerful sister mocked his government for clinging to hopes of renewed diplomacy between the war-divided rivals, and misleading the public by falsely claiming the North had removed its own frontline speakers as a reciprocal gesture toward the South. South Korea's military maintains that it confirmed the North dismantling some of its speakers. Kim Yo Jong also reiterated previous North Korean statements that it has no immediate interest in reviving long-stalled negotiations with Washington and Seoul, citing an upcoming joint military exercise between the allies as proof of their continued hostility toward Pyongyang. Analysts say North Korea clearly sees no urgency to resume diplomacy with South Korea or the United States, remaining focused on its alignment with Russia. Since Russia's 2022 invasion of Ukraine, Pyongyang has made Moscow the priority of its foreign policy, sending thousands of troops and large quantities of military equipment, including artillery and missiles, to help fuel the war. In his own speech marking Korea's liberation on Thursday, Kim Jong Un praised the 'infinite might' of the country's ties with Russia at an event in the North Korean capital of Pyongyang attended by a Russian government delegation. His speech, published by North Korean state media on Friday, made no mention of Washington or Seoul.
