U.S. President Barack Obama says his country's commitment to South Korea's national security and defense will never waver.

Obama said this in a congratulatory statement on the occasion of South Korea's Independence Day. He sent his best wishes and hailed what he called the "strong and enduring alliance" between both countries over the past decades.

He says American forces fought for South Korea against invading North Korean communist troops in the Korean War.

Obama says that 60 years ago, communist forces came across the 38th parallel and threatened South Korea's very survival, stressing that the bilateral alliance was as necessary then as it is now.

U.S. Secretary of State Hillary Clinton had earlier issued a congratulatory statement to Seoul on Independence Day.