Flags of countries that participated in the Incheon landing are carried into a ceremony commemorating the 76th anniversary of the operation at Sangsang Platform in Incheon on Sept. 15.YONHAP
A ceremony commemorating the Incheon landing, which turned the tide of the 1950-53 Korean War, was jointly hosted by the Marine Corps and the Incheon city government on Tuesday, marking the first time in 16 years that the Marines, rather than the Navy, took the lead in organizing the event.
The shift mirrors ongoing efforts to give the Marine Corps more autonomy through a military restructuring plan, loosening oversight by the Navy.
The ceremony was held at the Sangsang Platform in Incheon to mark the 76thanniversary of the landing operation.
The Incheon landing was carried out in September 1950 under the command of U.S. Gen. Douglas MacArthur. The operation played a pivotal role in turning the tide of the war, forcing North Korean troops to retreat and paving the way for the recapture of Seoul within weeks.
Tuesday's event was attended by Marine Corps Commandant Lt. Gen. Ju Il-suk, Incheon Mayor Park Chan-dae, U.S. Eighth Army Commander Lt. Gen. Joseph Hilbert, United Nations Command Deputy Commander Lt. Gen. Scott Winter, U.S. Marine Corps Forces Korea Commander Brig. Gen. Valerie Jackson and acting Reform Party leader Chun Ha-ram.
Around 1,000 people attended, including some 40 veterans. Among them were 94-year-old Marine Park Hak-soo as well as military attachés from countries that fought in the Korean War along with active-duty Navy and Marine Corps personnel.
During the ceremony, veteran Park presented the Korean national flag to a platoon commander from the 6th Company of the Marine Corps’ 12th Battalion. The 12th Battalion is known as the “central government building battalion” because it carries on the legacy of the 6th Company of the Marine Corps’ 2nd Battalion, which raised the Korean flag over the central government building while taking back Seoul.
Veterans of the Incheon landing enter a ceremony commemorating the 76th anniversary of the operation at Sangsang Platform in Incheon on Sept. 15.YONHAP
Veterans of the Incheon landing salute the Korean national flag during a ceremony commemorating the 76th anniversary of the operation at Sangsang Platform in Incheon on Sept. 15.YONHAP
Korean and U.S. Marines will carry the flag in a relay on Saturday and deliver it to an event commemorating the 76th anniversary of the recapture of Seoul.
“I hope the younger generation of Marines will carry on the spirit of their predecessors and firmly safeguard the freedom and peace of South Korea,” veteran Park Hak-soo said.
During the ceremony, the Ministry of National Defense affirmed its commitment to restructuring the Marine Corps.
“We will steadfastly pursue the restructuring of the Marine Corps into a force with a status closer to that of an independent military branch so that it has capabilities commensurate with the stature and missions of a force that has always stood at the forefront whenever the nation needed it,” Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said in commemorative remarks read on his behalf by the ministry’s director general for personnel welfare.
Lt. Gen. Ju also pledged to strengthen the Marine Corps in line with the proposed restructuring.
“We will remember the path to victory forged by the Marines who came before us and build the status and capabilities that match the restructuring of the Marine Corps,” Lt. Gen. Ju said.
Brig. Gen. Jackson also highlighted the close cooperation between Korean and U.S. Marines.
"In those early days of Operation Chromite and throughout the rest of the war, United States and Republic of Korea Marines fought shoulder-to-shoulder as one," Brig. Gen. Jackson said in congratulatory remarks. "Forged here in the heat of battle, the bond between both of our Corps remains unshakeable. Today, our partnership bears the proof of the steadfast alliance between our two countries, reinforced by a coalition of other freedom-loving nations."
Flags of countries that participated in the Incheon landing are carried into a ceremony commemorating the 76th anniversary of the operation at Sangsang Platform in Incheon on Sept. 15.YONHAP
The Marine Corps and the Incheon city government jointly hosted the annual Incheon landing commemoration from 2001 through 2010, but the Navy replaced the Marine Corps as host in 2011.
The Corps proposed to the Defense Ministry in November of last year that it once again take charge of the event and claimed that it should host the ceremony because of its leading role in the Incheon landing operation. The ministry approved the proposal the following month.
The effort to autonomize the Marine Corps started in a Defense Ministry policy briefing in December of last year, when President Lee Jae Myung ordered the ministry to consider an overhaul that gives the Corps a status closer to an independent military branch.
Later that month, the ministry unveiled its proposal for a quasi-four-branch military. Under the system, the Marine Corps would remain under the Navy, but its commandant would be given command and supervisory authority comparable to that of the chiefs of staff of the Army, Navy and Air Force.
As part of the restructuring, the government has been moving to transfer operational control of the Marines' 1st and 2nd Divisions from the Army to the Corps.
This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
