South Korean President Yoon Sung-nyeol, speaking to the U.S. Congress, emphasized the importance of trilateral security cooperation in response to North Korea's spurring nuclear and missile development.
South Korean President Yoon Sung-nyeol, who is on a state visit to the United States, became the first South Korean president in 27 years to address members of both houses of Congress on May 10.
He condemned North Korea's nuclear and missile development as "a serious threat to the Korean Peninsula and world peace," and emphasized that at the U.S.-ROK summit meeting, they agreed to strengthen "extended deterrence" to protect allies with deterrence, including U.S. nuclear forces.
Furthermore, in response to the nuclear threat posed by North Korea, he stated that it is "necessary to accelerate" security cooperation among Japan, the United States, and the Republic of Korea (ROK) in addition to the United States and the ROK.
The joint statement issued by the two leaders after the U.S.-ROK summit meeting also confirmed the importance of cooperation among the three countries, and President Yoon reiterated his position of emphasizing trilateral cooperation in his speech to the Congress.
In addition, in his speech, referring to Russia's invasion of Ukraine, he stated, "I strongly condemn the armed attack on Ukraine that was carried out without justifiable reason," and expressed his stance of actively promoting support for the reconstruction of Ukraine together with the international community.