To mark this important national holiday,... South Korean President Moon Jae-in gave a speech at a ceremony in Seoul... in which he praised the independence activists who sacrificed so much for the freedom of their country.
Kan Hyeong-woo reports.
Korea is celebrating its independence from Japanese imperial rule at the end of the Second World War 73 years ago on August 15th.
For the first time, the official ceremony was held in what President Moon called the "heart of Seoul," Yongsan-gu District -- a place long home to the U.S. military's main base in South Korea, and a large part of which was not administered by the Korean government but by its ally, the United States.
There, President Moon Jae-in expressed his hope of finding the remains of those who sacrificed themselves for the freedom of their country.

"Just as Yongsan was lost to us for so long, the history of the independence movement and its heroes still awaits us."

The President noted that over the past year, the government has been awarding national merits to those freedom fighters, many of them posthumously.
And he promised that everyone -- without distinction to gender or what role they played -- will get the praise and respect they deserve.
Korea's independence movement will reach fruition,... he said,... once the remains of the independence fighters are found and excavated.
Kan Hyeong-woo, Arirang News.