2006 VAN FLEET AWARD

LEE KUN-HEE

Samsung Chairman

CITATION

As the guiding light of Samsung, Chairman Lee Kun-Hee is responsible for an extraordinary economic conglomerate that has contributed enormously to the economic rise of South Korea. Samsung is the strongest economic symbol of today's Korea, as is demonstrated by its ranking number 20 in the latest Business Week / Interbrand survey of the 100 "top brands" worldwide. This extraordinary ranking is supported by the stunning surge in the value of the Samsung product line over the past five years. Over this period, Samsung posted the biggest gain in value of any of the top 100 brands, with an explosive rise of 186-percent in value. Today its total assets amount to more than $230 billion, with close to a quarter of a million employees working in over 65 countries. Samsung currently has more than 25 offices in the United States alone.

Chairman Lee has played a direct, hands-on role in shaping Samsung's approach to its people and its products. He has long supported innovation in management, creating a more dynamic corporate culture under the slogan "Change Myself First," based on his conviction that all progress begins with the individual. Today, Samsung's corporate philosophy reflects Chairman Lee's belief that economic success comes from a stress on quality, not quantity.

Educated in Korea, Japan and the United States, Chairman Lee remains active in many areas, as a vice chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, a vice chairman of the Korea-Japan Economic Committee, a member of the International Olympic Committee, a director of the Korean Youth Association and a philanthropist of high standing. Under his guidance, Samsung made a $3.2 million contribution to the Hurricane Katrina Relief Fund last year and has contributed more than $30 million to American charities over the years. Truly, Samsung is an outstanding global citizen.

When General James Van Fleet, for whom this award is named, came up with the idea of establishing The Korea Society, Korea itself still lay largely prostrate in the wreckage of war. Samsung has played an enduring and significant role in Korea's recovery and rise to global prominence. It is for his key role in that magnificent recovery that we honor Chairman Lee.

2005 VAN FLEET AWARD

GEORGE H.W. BUSH

41^st President of the United States of America

presented by

ROH MOO-HYUN

President of the Republic of Korea

CITATION

The presidency of George H.W. Bush, from 1989 to 1993, remains the high point of the U.S.-Korea alliance that dates from the Korean War.

From the early months of his term in office, President Bush worked creatively to support South Korea's policy of "Nordpolitic," which was designed to pave the way toward better relations between North and South Korea by establishing diplomatic relations with the Soviet Union, China, and the countries of Eastern Europe.

In 1990, after the collapse of the Soviet Union the previous year, President Bush arranged a meeting between South Korean President Roh Tae Woo and Mikhail Gorbachev in San Francisco that paved the way for the establishment of diplomatic relations between Moscow and Seoul the following year.

Using his vast Chinese experience, President Bush encouraged China to recognize South Korea, which it did in 1992. President Bush also urged the Chinese to drop their long-standing opposition to membership in the United Nations for South Korea. Today, both North and South Korea are United Nations members of long standing.

In military matters, President Bush was equally adroit in supporting "Nordpolitic." Strategic weapons deployments, and annual, large-scale training exercises were modified in close coordination with Seoul's outreach to Pyongyang. The result was the signing of two North-South agreements at the end of 1991 that remain as a blueprint for a stable Korean Peninsula in the post-nuclear age.

Today, as the U.S.-Korea alliance continues to grow and prosper in a new century, President Bush is still remembered with great respect and affection by the Korean people for all that he contributed to this key relationship during his presidency.

2004 VAN FLEET AWARD

BAN KI-MOON

Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade

Republic of Korea

CITATION

Past recipients of the Van Fleet award have generally been distinguished individuals whose public service career had been completed. Included among these recipients are a former American president, a former secretary of defense, a retired four-star general, and a former chairman of the Federation of Korean Industries, who received the award posthumously.

Tonight, we are presenting the Van Fleet award to a man who is actively serving in a key position at a time of great historical and political turbulence in Northeast Asia. We feel that this award is very much in keeping with the spirit of the man for whom the award is named. General James A. Van Fleet developed a deep admiration for the Korean people as he observed them coping bravely with the devastation of the Korean War. He recognized them as a people of action. It was this high regard for the Korean people that led him to establish the first incarnation of The Korea Society in 1957.

Tonight's awardee, Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade Ban Ki-Moon, is clearly a man of action, who brings to his vital position a wealth of experience acquired during 34 years of service to his country. At a time when the regional relationships in Northeast Asia are in flux and Korea is emerging as a hub of the region, Minister Ban has been coping admirably with such issues as the multilateral talks designed to defuse the North Korean nuclear issue, changes in longstanding patterns of U.S. troop deployments and the highly charged issue, between China and Korea, of the basic identity of the ancient kingdom of Koguryo.

All of us in this distinguished audience tonight feel deeply reassured that it is Minister Ban Ki-Moon who is responsible for dealing with these complex issues. As members and friends of The Korea Society, it is our hope that he will accept the 2004 James A. Van Fleet Award as a kind of "battlefield decoration," a token of our admiration for his achievements during a distinguished career in public service and his continuing contributions as the Minister of Foreign Affairs and Trade of the Republic of Korea.

2003 VAN FLEET AWARD

RAYMOND G. DAVIS

General, (Ret.)

United States Marine Corps

CITATION

General Raymond G. Davis has compiled a matchless combat record as a Marine Corps officer in the brutal Guadalcanal campaign of World War II, and as the commanding general of the Third Marine Division in Vietnam. During the Korean War, General Davis was awarded the Medal of Honor for his actions as a battalion commander during the First Marine Division's historic fight to break out of the Chosin Reservoir area in the frigid mountains of North Korea.

General Davis has been awarded numerous medals for heroism by a grateful United States government. His 33 years of active service as a Marine Corps officer ended with his retirement in 1972, after serving as the assistant commandant of the Marine Corps.

Like General Van Fleet, for whom this award is named, General Davis came out of the Korean War with a special admiration for the Korean people. He has worked tirelessly to develop the Sam Nunn School of International Affairs at the Georgia Institute of Technology. He has worked to promote the establishment of a nuclear-free zone in Northeast Asia and has actively participated in meetings between American and North Korean officials in New York City.

Last year, with the cooperation of the government of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, General Davis visited the Chosin Reservoir area, as a part of the United States government's effort to repatriate the remains of servicemen killed during the war. General Davis is working diligently to return to North Korea in the near future, with other Korean War veterans and their families, in an attempt to forge bonds of friendship between former enemies as well as assist in locating and repatriating those still buried in the formidable mountains of North Korea.

General Davis has brought the same dedication and intensity to civilian life that he demonstrated as an officer in combat. His contributions to Korea and to America, in peace and war, perfectly exemplify the spirit of the Van Fleet Award. It is most appropriate that this award is being presented to General Davis by the President of the Republic of Korea, His Excellency Roh Moo-hyun.