PRESIDENT MOON AWARDS MEDALS IN HAWAII

[Anchor Lead]

President Moon Jae-in, currently visiting the United States, flew to Hawaii and awarded medals to first-generation Korean immigrants with verified independence movement activities. Also, the remains of Korean and American soldiers who died during the Korean War were exchanged in a joint ceremony.

[Pkg]

After arriving in Honolulu, Hawaii, President Moon Jae-in first visited the National Memorial Cemetery also known as the Punchbowl. He remembered the American servicemen who died in battle during the Korean War and met with the surviving veterans to show gratitude. Moon then attended the medal awarding ceremony for the late Kim Nodie and Ahn Jeong-song whose contributions to Korea’s independence movement were discovered recently. It has been verified that these first-generation immigrants to Hawaii raised funds for Korea’s independence movement.

[Soundbite] Moon Jae-in(President) : "My heart aches whenever I think about the Korean community in Hawaii. The first generation of Korean immigrants in Hawaii supported Korea’s independence even in hardship."

Then the President visited Hickam Air Force Base to oversee the exchange of South Korean and American soldiers’ remains. Seoul received 68 sets of remains of South Korean soldiers and returned six sets of remains of American soldiers. Out of the returned remains, only the late Private Kim Seok-ju and Jeong Hwan-jo have been identified. Their remains were loaded on the presidential aircraft. Earlier, Moon said at the virtual Global COVID-19 Summit that South Korea is ready to work together with the international community to overcome the pandemic.

[Soundbite] Moon Jae-in(President) : "S. Korea is producing four types of vaccines on consignment in accordance with the Korea-U.S. vaccine partnership. S. Korea will distribute more vaccines and provide more support to overcome the pandemic."

The South Korean leader is to arrive in Seoul Air Base Thursday night local time, after wrapping up his five-day visit to the U.S. Moon plans to first attend a return ceremony for the South Korean soldiers’remains after returning home.