On March 21, 2011, a solemn ceremony of laying a foundation stone took place near Petrovskaya Street of Kronstadt District, where a square is planned, devoted to the partnership of Korean city of Incheon, St.Petersburg, and Kronstadt.
On March 21, 2011, a solemn ceremony of laying a foundation stone took place near Petrovskaya Street of Kronstadt District, where a square is planned, devoted to the partnership of Korean city of Incheon, St.Petersburg, and Kronstadt.
It is in the bay area at this city, now the third largest of the Republic of Korea, formerly named Chemulpo, where the famous battle of the first-rank cruiser “Varyag” and the gunboat “Koreets” happened more than a century ago, with a much more numerous squadron of Japanese Navy commanded by Admiral Uriu. In the Republic of Korea, they cherish the memory of the heroism and bravery of Russian sailors, shown in that battle. Several sailors from the cruiser “Varyag” died of their wounds in the hospital of Chemulpo and founded the peace in the Korean soil. In Russia, they gratefully welcomed the news that Korea's carefully preserved the fore jack-flag of the legendary ship. During his visit to Seoul, Dmitriy Medvedev, President of Russian Federation, was handed this relic by the Korean side. Flag of “Varyag” has already twice arrived in Kronstadt, and has been presented to the sailors of the garrison and the inhabitants of the city on the steps of a Russian relics under reconstruction – St.Nicholas Naval Cathedral.
The ceremonial meeting on laying the foundation stone of the future park was attended by a delegation of the Republic of Korea, journalists, general public, and youth and veterans of the city of military and naval glory of Russia - Kronstadt. At the beginning of the last century, it was Kronstadt from where the cruiser “Varyag” was sent to to the Far East in order to join the 1st Pacific Squadron.
At the meeting, the speeches were made by Alexander Prokhorenko, Chairman of St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations, Mr Song Young-Gil, Mayor of Incheon City, and Andrei Khazin, Member of the Federation Council of Federal Assembly of Russian Federation. The leitmotif of all the speeches was that the historical context should be the foundation of partnership and economic and cultural cooperation between our cities and nations.
Then, accompanied by the sound of the orchestra and the applause, the red ribbon was ceremoniously cut. The mayor of our partner city of Incheon gladly allowed to take his photo with Kronstadt Cadets against the foundation stone of the future memorial park. And the young people and public men of Kronstadt, along with the Korean friends, put the fresh flowers on the stone.
News Source: The administration of Kronstadt District and St.Petersburg Committee for External Relations