The last time Congress met in joint session was on May 8, 2013, to hear an address from the President of the Republic of Korea, Her Excellency Park Geun-hye.
Upon her arrival in Washington, she visited the Korean War Veterans Memorial and read the words, “Our nation honors her sons and daughters, who answered the call to defend a country they never knew and a people they never met.”
After expressing “profound gratitude” to America's veterans, including four Members with them in the House chamber, she continued:
When the guns fell silent in the summer of 1953, Koreans were surviving on $67 a year. Six decades later, Korea is one of the top five car producers and the eighth-largest trading nation.
Some call this the “Miracle on the Han River.”
But for those of us in Korea, it was anything but a miracle. And it wasn't just built from within. Koreans worked tirelessly in the mines of Germany, in the jungles of Vietnam, and in the deserts of the Middle East.
These are the people—the proud Korean people—I am so honored to serve as President.
They are the ones that made Korea what it is today.
Together, we will write a sequel to that story: “A Second Miracle on the Han River.”
