By Kim Young Deok and Yoon Sojung

President Moon Jae-in on April 19 expressed his commitment to overcome the novel coronavirus disease (COVID-19) in the spirit of the April 19 Revolution.

At a ceremony to mark the revolution's 60th anniversary at the April 19 National Cemetery in Seoul's Gangbuk-gu District, he said, "We will overcome COVID-19 without fail through strong solidarity and cooperation based on openness, transparency and democracy, thereby becoming a source of hope for the world." 

Calling the revolution's spirit "the robust root of the Republic of Korea's democracy," he said, "The power to cope with the current grave COVID-19 situation also originated from a self-motivating civic consciousness inspired by the spirit of the April 19 Revolution."

The president added that the democracy, solidarity and cooperation Korea has shown while responding to the pandemic "are setting an example for the world."

He urged the National Assembly and the people to come together to overcome the economic crisis caused by the pandemic, saying, "If we can use the power of solidarity and cooperation based on openness, transparency and democracy to overcome the post-COVID-19 situation that the entire world will suffer together, we will be able to instill great courage in all of humanity."

A commemorative concert following the ceremony saw the debut performance of the song "Evergreen 2020," which contains a message of hope urging everyone to work together to overcome the pandemic, just as Korea did during the revolution.

Released on YouTube, the Korean-language tune has subtitles in eight languages including English, Chinese and Japanese.

***