ANN/THE KOREA HERALD – Seoul’s Minister of National Defence Shin Won-sik yesterday credited the bipartisan support from the United States (US) Congress to safeguarding the US troop presence in South Korea.
Shin conducted a private meeting with delegations from the US House of Representatives, including Young Kim, Michael McCaul, Gregory Meeks, Joe Wilson, and Joe Courtney, during the Shangri-La Dialogue summit yesterday as reported by the minister’s office.
The South Korean defence minister was quoted by his office as having told the five House members that “the bipartisan support of the US Congress for South Korea-US alliance made it possible for this year’s National Defence Authorisation Act to maintain the current level of American troops in South Korea.”
He was referring to the set of federal laws outlining the US annual military budget and expenditures, passed each year by the Congress. The Congressional delegation recognised that the alliance of the two countries that lasted for the past seven decades was vital to peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and beyond, the minister’s office said.
The office added that House members also vowed “relentless support” for the bilateral alliance at the Congress to respond to emerging threats in the region, including those from North Korea.
The minister shared his views with the House delegation on the defence policy bill in the context of the former president Donald Trump suggesting in an interview that troops may be pulled out of South Korea.
The remarks from Trump fueled a debate in Seoul’s National Assembly that relying on the alliance with the US for North Korea deterrence may be risky.
At the plenary session of the top defence summit, Shin declined to respond to a question asking his views on Trump returning to the White House and the possibility of South Korea being forced to develop its own nuclear weapons.
