South Korea leader stresses need for cooperation with Japan on North Korea

Article content material

WASHINGTON, April 27 (Reuters) –

South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol informed U.S. lawmakers on Thursday it’s needed to hurry up trilateral cooperation with Japan and the US to counter growing North Korean nuclear threats, and mentioned the world should not “draw back” from selling freedom for the North.

Article content material

Yoon, on the fourth day of a state go to to mark the seventieth anniversary of the U.S.-South Korean alliance, additionally vowed in a speech to a joint assembly of Congress that South Korea would actively work to safeguard the liberty of the folks of Ukraine and help their reconstruction efforts.

Article content material

He was greeted with a standing ovation and repeated loud cheers in a packed Home of Representatives chamber by members of the Home and Senate.

Yoon paid tribute to the U.S. sacrifice to defend freedom in opposition to communism within the 1950-53 Korean Warfare, in addition to the work of nineteenth century U.S. missionaries to advance ladies’s standing in Korea.

“Korea will always remember the good American heroes who fought with us to defend freedom,” he mentioned.

On Wednesday, Yoon met President Joe Biden on the White Home and the US pledged to offer South Korea extra perception into its nuclear planning over any battle with North Korea, amid nervousness over Pyongyang’s rising arsenal of missiles and bombs.

Yoon informed Congress the alliance should stand united to discourage North Korea’s “reckless conduct” and highlighted his efforts in the direction of rapprochement with neighboring Japan after years of strained relations, by saying:

Article content material

“Together with shut Korea-U.S. coordination, we have to velocity up Korea-U.S.-Japan trilateral safety cooperation to counter growing North Korean nuclear threats.”

Yoon grew to become the seventh South Korea chief to deal with Congress, underscoring the shut relationship between Seoul and Washington.

Such addresses to Congress are usually reserved for the closest U.S. allies or main world figures. The final such tackle was by Ukrainian President Volodymyr Zelenskiy in December.

Yoon condemned Russia’s struggle in opposition to Ukraine as a violation of worldwide legislation and vowed to assist Ukraine, simply as democracies had helped Seoul within the Korean Warfare.

“We are going to actively work to safeguard the liberty of the folks of Ukraine and help their efforts in reconstruction,” he mentioned. (Reporting by Patricia Zengerle, David Brunnstrom and Susan Heavey; Modifying by Alexandra Hudson)