On the afternoon of Aug. 15, a special forum took place at Gonjiam Valley in Gyeonggi Province, in celebration of the 70th anniversary of signing the armistice of the Korean War.

The Past 4 Present, a youth organization with students from elementary schools to universities, held the "Youth International Peace Forum & Concert," with an aim to uphold the value of peace and liberal democracy acquired through the 1950-53 Korean War.

A notable highlight of this year's forum was that the young participants were actively involved in designing the overall program and content of the event.

Another highlight was the afternoon ensemble performance by some participants of The Past 4 Present.

“We had a lot of fun and had many insights while preparing the event during the summer vacation,” said a The Past 4 Present participant, adding, “The event allowed us such a meaningful opportunity to revisit the meaning of the peace and war."

The event took place with The Korea Herald's CEO Choi Jin-young; Pak Dong-woo, founder of the Orange County Korean War Memorial Committee; and Korean War veteran Yoo Young-bok in attendance. Yoo was kidnapped by North Korea during the Korean War and escaped back to home soil in 2000.

“We must seek lessons from the past in order to continuously build a new history of hope and prosperity, as the past, present and future are connected with each other,” said Choi, referencing Winston Churchill.

“In that regard, it’s very noteworthy that this year's event was held through young people putting their heads together and joining hands. I hope that they will become leaders of history and also drive the development of human civilization," he added.