Korea Society board chair Ambassador Kathleen Stephens pays tribute to the late General Paik Sun-yup during this memorial program hosted by the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) and the Korea-U.S. Alliance Foundation (KUSAF).
General Paik, the first South Korean to achieve the rank of four-star general, passed away on July 10, 2020 at the age of 99. About General Paik, Ambassador Stephens said, "He was such a key figure in building the extraordinary military of the Republic of Korea and building an extraordinary relationship with the U.S. military. I've served in many countries, and the U.S.-Korea relationship is unusual because it is informed as much by deep personal commitments as it is by professional cooperation. He was central to that and remained central many, many years after he retired."
General Paik participated in all ten of the major campaigns of the Korean War, commanded an independent corps that conducted the largest anti-guerilla operation of the war, and was the ROK’s initial representative to the armistice negotiations.
In 2010, he was recipient of the Korea Society's Van Fleet Award, in recognition of distinguished service and in honor of Korean War Veterans.
