The commemoration took place in the context of the escalating tension between the two regions after the March 26 sinking of the RoK’s warship Cheonan, which took 46 lives.

At a solemn ceremony in Seoul, RoK President Lee Myung-bak called on the DPRK to stop its “reckless military provocations” and to apologise for the warship sinking.

He said that the DPRK must admit its responsibility before the international community and affirmed that the RoK’s ultimate goal is not a military confrontation but peaceful reunification.

Hundreds of decorated veterans from the RoK and other countries that fought in the war joined families, diplomats and guests at the ceremony.

Meanwhile, the DPRK marked the outbreak of the historic war by a grand ceremony in Kim II-sung Square in Pyongyang. The country’s news agency KCNA said on the day that the US was the culprit who started the war, while the Rodong Sinmun said peace on the Korean peninsula is still threatened as the US and the RoK are scheming a new fight.

The Korean war took place from 1950 to 1953, killing millions of people. It ended only with an armistice and not a peace treaty, leaving the two regions still technically at war over the six decades.