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1
SENATE RESOLUTION

 
2    WHEREAS, The United States and Korea first established
3diplomatic relations on May 22, 1882 with the signing of the
4Treaty of Peace, Amiry, Commerce and Navigation; following
5Korea's occupation by Japan from 1905 until the end of World
6War II, the U.S. formally reestablished its diplomatic
7relationship with the Republic of Korea (R.O.K.) on March 25,
81949, and the two nations signed their Mutual Defense Treaty
9on October 1, 1953; and
 
10    WHEREAS, In 2023, the U.S.-R.O.K. alliance is marking 70
11years since the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War and
12the signing of the Armistice Agreement on July 27, 1953, which
13remains in place today and, by its terms, has neither formally
14ended the Korean War nor constituted a permanent settlement of
15peace on the Korean Peninsula; and
 
16    WHEREAS, The U.S.-R.O.K. alliance is also rooted in mutual
17trust, shared sacrifice, common values, economic interests,
18and generations of people-to-people ties that provide a
19foundation for one of the strongest, most interoperable, and
20enduring bilateral alliances in the world; and
 
21    WHEREAS, The U.S.-R.O.K. alliance was forged in shared
22sacrifice, as 1,789,000 U.S. soldiers, sailors, airmen, and

 

 

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1marines served during the Korean War, of whom 36,574 paid the
2ultimate sacrifice with their lives in defense of the R.O.K.,
3including 7,174 soldiers in the Korean Augmentation to the
4U.S. Army; more than 7,500 members of the U.S. Armed Forces
5remain classified by the Department of Defense as missing in
6action; casualties of the R.O.K. numbered more than 217,000
7soldiers killed and more than 291,000 wounded during the war;
8and
 
9    WHEREAS, The American and Korean people share deeply
10rooted values of defending freedom, championing economic and
11social opportunity and inclusion, upholding human rights, and
12respecting the rule of law; now; therefore, be it
 
13    RESOLVED, BY THE SENATE OF THE ONE HUNDRED THIRD GENERAL
14ASSEMBLY OF THE STATE OF ILLINOIS, that we recognize the 70th
15anniversary of the United States-Republic of Korea alliance
16and celebrate the strong cultural and economic ties between
17the two nations and the special bonds forged between people of
18the State of Illinois and the Republic of Korea.