Residents of the Life Care Center in Federal Way, a nursing home with a large military veteran population, were treated to traditional Korean entertainment on Sunday.

Members of the Korean-American Women’s Association of the Northwest, a group of Korean women with American husbands who were soldiers, organized a ceremony to honor veterans for their service to Korea and America. They donned brightly-colored traditional formal dresses called Hanboks and sang, played instruments and danced.

There is a large local population of Korean-American women who are wives of American soldiers because soldiers from Ft. Lewis and Ft. McChord are often deployed to Korea. There are currently nearly 30,000 U.S. troops stationed in Korea.

Troops have been stationed in South Korea since the Korean War in the 1950s, when the U.S. helped to repel the invading forces of Communist North Korea.

“We appreciate these veterans because of the Korean War,” said Christina Sullivan, a Korean-American who’s husband is an American soldier. “The whole nation sacrificed for our freedom and we just wanted to show our gratitude.”

Contact Margo Hoffman: mhoffman@fedwaymirror.com or (253) 925-5565.