The government's celebration program contains various ceremonial functions designed to remember and inherit the independent spirit of our patriotic forebears who fought or died a martyr for our national freedom.

In retrospect, we see the past 36 years of our independence interspersed with national crises and national endeavor to overcome them. Hardly had we made a start at building an independent country, when on June 25, 1950, only a year and ten months after the installation of our government, the northern communist group invaded us in great force, thus bringing about the tragedy of fratricidal war, which left the whole land of the peninsula in complete ruins. Up we rose, however, from the ashes of destruction and began again the task of nation building from the beginning. Though we have encountered various hardships on our way, we have never slowed down in the job of progressing toward our goal of prosperity, democracy and justice.