For seven decades, the U.S.-South Korea alliance has been the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity in Northeast Asia, the Indo-Pacific, and increasingly around the world, said Secretary of State Antony Blinken on a recent visit to the South Korea.
“Today, the alliance between the United States and Korea remains more essential than ever in shaping our shared future. And I believe it's also stronger than ever in taking on that task. We've enhanced ... our extended deterrence, the United States commitment to defend our allies with the full range of our conventional and nuclear capabilities, as well as our ability to coordinate and respond to DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] aggression, including through the nuclear consultative group.”
The United States together with Japan and the Republic of Korea has forged a partnership for peace and stability from the Korean Peninsula to the Taiwan Strait and become an engine of economic and technological progress, said Secretary Blinken:
“I believe it's in the strategic interest of each of our countries, not just to sustain this trilateral cooperation, but to grow it in the years ahead, particularly in an era when security in the Indo-Pacific and Europe is increasingly intertwined.”
Secretary Blinken warned about the growing military cooperation between North Korea and Russia. Indeed, in the last week of December, more than 1000 North Korean forces were killed and or wounded in the war in Ukraine.
“The DPRK is already receiving Russian military equipment and training. Now we have reason to believe that Moscow intends to share advanced space and satellite technology with Pyongyang and that [Vladimir] Putin may be close to reversing a decades long policy by Russia and accepting DPRK nuclear weapons program.”
The United States is now South Korea's second largest investor and largest goods exports market. In turn, South Korea has become a leading investor in the United States, committing more than $140 billion since 2021, from semiconductor plants in Michigan to solar facilities in Georgia.
The U.S.-South Korea relationship is grounded not just in economic or security interests, but in our shared democratic values, said Secretary Blinken. “I remain fully, strongly optimistic that the United States and South Korea will continue to go together into a future of our own making.”
