Seoul defense chief thanks Congress for bill keeping US troops in South Korea

SINGAPORE -- Seoul’s Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik on Saturday credited the bipartisan support from the US Congress for its role in protecting the US troop presence in South Korea.

Shin held a closed-door meeting with the US House of Representatives delegation comprising Reps. Young Kim, Michael McCaul, Gregory Meeks, Joe Wilson and Joe Courtney at the Shangri-La Dialogue summit on this day, according to the minister’s office.

The South Korean defense 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 Defense Authorization 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 recognized 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 defense policy bill in the context of the former US 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 defense 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.

He said in a response to another question that he believes strengthening South Korea and the US alliance was the best deterrent against North Korean nuclear threats.