United Nations Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon says peace and freedom come at a price, and that they are only possible when people make efforts to preserve and defend them. He was speaking at an event in New York marking the 60th anniversary of the start of the Korean War on Friday afternoon local time.

Ban went on to say that the peace and freedom enjoyed by South Korea was founded on the sacrifices of South Korea and its numerous allies, including the U.S. He asked for Koreans to make efforts for peace to settle and take root, since peace on the Korean Peninsula is incomplete.

Some two-hundred people attended, including 50 Korean War veterans and ethnic Koreans living in the U.S.

The Korean War broke out when North Korea invaded South Korea on June 25, 1950. Three years later, an uneasy armistice ended the first major conflict of the Cold War, leaving the two Koreas technically at war to this day.