KITA
and member companies’ Donation Ceremony for the Van Fleet Foundation
On September 20 (local time) at the
66th annual dinner of the Korea Society, held at the Plaza Hotel in
Manhattan, New York, the Korea International Trade Association (KITA, Chairman
Christopher Koo) was awarded the Van Fleet Award for its contribution to the
development of Korea-U.S. relations.
The Van Fleet Award was arranged after the death of
General Van Fleet in 1992, for the purpose of acclaiming his achievements and
honoring his wishes. Each year, the Korea Society gives this award by selecting
a person or group of both nations that contributed in promoting Korea-U.S.
relations. This year, the Korea International Trade Association and the
Economic Development Department of the State of Georgia was selected as the
awardee of the Van Fleet Award. Christopher Koo, Chairman of KITA, and Brian Kemp,
Governor of the State of Georgia, were the joint awardees.
In
addition, on the morning of September 20 (local time), Chairman Koo met with
the representative of the Van Fleet Foundation, Joe McChristian Jr., at the New
York Branch of KITA in New York, and delivered a donation of USD 100,000
contributed by the member companies of KITA.
In
commemoration of the 70th anniversary of the Korea-U.S. alliance, KITA
delivered a message of gratitude for the devotion and effort of General Van
Fleet for strengthening the basis for the alliance, and revealed that it would
strive to expand friendly bilateral cooperation in the future.