Seoul
\nSouth Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rose to the presidency making the case for closer ties with the US. On Thursday, he brought his case to US lawmakers \u2014 and found a receptive audience.
\nIn a speech that offered a summary of ties, Yoon asked for even stronger security cooperation and highlighted deep economic connections. He drew repeated standing ovations from lawmakers in a closely divided Congress with references to \u201cgreat American heroes\u201d from the Korean War and promises of closer relations.
\nIt was the first speech to a joint session of Congress by a South Korean leader in a decade, and it came at a fortuitous time. Anti-China sentiment is running high on both sides of the aisle in the US, and South Korea is seen as an important ally as China grows more assertive.
\n\u201cKorea is committed to fostering a \u2018free, peaceful and prosperous Indo-Pacific\u2019\u201d based on \u201cinclusiveness, trust and reciprocity,\u201d he said. \u201cWe will strengthen the rules-based order in the Indo-Pacific,\u201d he said, picking up on one of the Biden administration\u2019s favorite catchphrases for how governments should work with each other.
\nYoon delivered remarks that were tailored to the audience, citing US investments by South Korean companies Hyundai Motor Co. and Samsung Electronics Co. after opening the speech with a Cliffs Notes version of the history of US-South Korea relations. He cited the soft-power influence of K-Pop superstar groups Blackpink and BTS, and added that \u201cTop Gun\u201d and \u201cThe Avengers\u201d are loved by South Koreans.
\nThe speech capped a visit that lets Yoon comes home with a public-relations coup. The centerpiece was a defense agreement that will give South Korea a greater say in how America deploys its nuclear umbrella, along with assurances that it would be used to retaliate against a North Korean strike.
\nYoon separately met Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin to discuss threats posed by the likes of Kim Jong Un\u2019s regime, which has steadily rolled out new weapons designed to deliver nuclear strikes to South Korea and the US mainland.
\n\u201cGoing forward it is likely that, through diverse acts of provocations, North Korea will continue to put pressure on the ROK-US alliance and try to drive a wedge between our alliance,\u201d Yoon told Austin, the Defense Department said in a statement. Yoon was referring to his country by its formal name.
\nBut the South Korean leader was busy in other spheres too, meeting Elon Musk, offering tax breaks if the billionaire builds a Tesla auto factory there.
\nYoon is hoping the US agreement will appease some lawmakers back home who have argued for South Korea to develop its own nuclear weapons. Assurances of a close US partnership may also help some of his opponents move past a US intelligence leak \u2014 allegedly by a 21-year-old American airman \u2014 that exposed some South Korean secrets.
\nHe\u2019s also seeking to shore up South Korea\u2019s economy, which came close to a recession at the start of the year, as well as give a boost to his low popularity ratings.
\nSamsung is building a semiconductor foundry in Texas, and Hyundai plans an electric-vehicle plant in Georgia, with other conglomerates also increasing their investment as the US ramps up subsidies for companies creating jobs and setting manufacturing facilities in the country.
\nThe speech, like the rest of the visit, glossed over points of contention. Yoon still hasn\u2019t explicitly offered to supply lethal weapons to Ukraine. Nor did Yoon bring up concern among South Korean businesses about US demands to disclose sensitive business information in return for subsidies.
\nBut it was also a signal that the two sides have moved past the strains of the previous administration, when former President Donald Trump demanded South Korea pay more to host US troops.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Seoul South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol rose to the presidency making the case for closer ties with the US. On Thursday, he brought his case to US lawmakers \u2014 and found a receptive audience. In a speech that offered a summary of ties, Yoon asked for even stronger security cooperation and highlighted deep economic […]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":2,"featured_media":328197,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[6],"tags":[],"class_list":{"0":"post-328172","1":"post","2":"type-post","3":"status-publish","4":"format-standard","5":"has-post-thumbnail","7":"category-world"},"yoast_head":"\n