CEDAR CITY – A world-renowned South Korean dance group will perform Wednesday before a sold-out audience in the Cedar City Heritage Center Theater as part of a world tour to thank the soldiers who served in the Korean War.
Sunny Lee, a Korean native who lives in Southern Utah and helped organize the event, said that the group, named the Little Angels, has performed around the world, including performances for Presidents Eisenhower and Nixon, Queen Elizabeth II and at Ground Zero in New York for the 10th anniversary of the Sept. 11, 2001, terrorist attacks.
“They do this to show the soldiers that they are grateful for the sacrifices made to keep their country free,” Lee said.
The group was founded in 1965 and consists of young girls who have performed for more than 40 heads of state and in more than 500 television appearances.
In a press release, Dr. Bo Hi Pak, founding director of the Little Angels, said the purpose of the group is to promote world peace and traditional Korean culture while providing veterans of the Korean War a chance to see the best South Korea has to offer.
“America paid a huge price in blood and tears that the Korean people will never forget,” Pak said. “We want to give U.S. veterans a breathtaking and heartwarming performance that will delight them, and at the same time astound them with the contrast between the ragged children they remember begging in the gutter in 1953 and those visions of perfection they will see on stage today.”
The Little Angels are on a worldwide tour to commemorate the 60th anniversary of the Korean War.
Lee was instrumental in previous efforts in Cedar City to honor veterans from Southern Utah’s 213th National Guard Field Artillery Battalion who served in the Korean War. Lee said once the South Korean government, which helps sponsor the Little Angels, saw the ties between Cedar City and Korea they wanted to make an addition to their tour.
“They usually don’t visit little towns like Cedar City,” Lee said. “It’s pretty impressive to think they think so highly of Cedar City.”
The performance offered free tickets to veterans and families of veterans, and it was sold out shortly after tickets went on sale.
Joseph Denos of Cedar City is a Korean War veteran and managed to get tickets to the performance for him and his wife. He said he took a trip to Korea in 2001 and was shocked to see how modern and technological the country has become.
“There was nothing when we were there,” he said. “It’s like a completely different country now.”
Denos said he is looking forward to the performance for the same reason he enjoyed his trip to South Korea.
“It’s good to see that now there is this high level of art and culture and just a better lifestyle than they could have before the war,” Denos said. “It makes our time over there seem more worthwhile.”
Article source: http://www.thespectrum.com/article/20120204/NEWS01/202040330/S-Koreans-perform-sold-out-show?odyssey=tab%7Ctopnews%7Ctext%7CFrontpage
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