Defense Minister candidate Lee Jong-seop defined the Korea-US alliance as a 'public good' and previously stated that 'limiting autonomy is to enhance trust and increase the value of the ROK-US alliance'
In the 2020 Military Association thesis, 'Policy Direction for Strengthening the ROK-U.S. Alliance,' Lee said, "In the process of recognizing and bearing various types of costs, such as cost sharing for USFK, defense role sharing, autonomy limitation, and responsibility sharing, mutual trust is established. We need to enhance the value of the ROK-U.S. alliance,” he wrote.
When asked whether Lee would pay attention to conflict management such as mutual trust and anti-Korea/anti-American sentiments as in the contents of the thesis, Money Today reported on the 12th that Lee should do so.
Candidate Lee's 'Korea-US alliance strengthening policy' stated, "As a domestic political factor, efforts to prevent the outbreak or spread of anti-US sentiment are a very important factor for the development of the alliance."
Pentagon spokesman John Kirby said on the 6th that "we continued to make it clear that we are willing to sit face to face with North Korea, without any preconditions, for a good-faith dialogue to find a diplomatic path that will lead to a better outcome on the security instability on the Korean Peninsula." "We will continue to work on our capabilities within our alliance with South Korea," he said in a commentary on the North Korean missile launch.
When asked about the deployment of strategic assets in South Korea, Kirby said, "We will work with our ally, South Korea, to ensure that our capabilities are adequate to respond to threats."
"We will adjust our posture and intelligence-gathering posture as necessary, and we will adjust training and readiness with our ally, South Korea," Kirby said in a commentary on the 8th.
When asked about the message of the South Korea-US joint exercise to North Korea in the middle of this month, Kirby said, "All exercises are to improve readiness, not to send a message."
On his first day of work on the 11th, Candidate Lee said about the deployment of the US nuclear-powered submarine and strategic bombers on the Korean Peninsula, “According to what North Korea does, we must come up with countermeasures to suppress the corresponding threat. Depending on the circumstances, it can happen,” he said.
Regarding the restoration of the ROK-U.S. joint exercise training, Lee said, “There is no meaning in the existence of an army without training. Training is the basic duty of the military,” he said.
Regarding his remarks at the time of his nomination, Lee said, "It is a common assessment that field troops are not well centered in their values or spiritual world." You have to have it,” he explained.
After the North Korea-US summit in Singapore in June 2018, the South Korea-US combined exercise stopped actual maneuver training and focused on computer simulation on-the-ground training (CPX), and the election promise of President-elect Yun Seok-yeol was restored to full-scale joint exercise (CPX) and outdoor maneuver training (FTX). am.
Defense Ministry spokesman Martin Mayners said on the 21st of last month that North Korean propaganda media reported that "the scope, scale and timing of the exercises will be determined by agreement between the two sides with these factors in mind," Voice of America (VOA) said, reported.
Candidate Lee in the previous paper said, "As a domestic political factor, efforts to prevent the spark or spread of anti-US sentiment are a very important factor for the development of the alliance." , and the cause of the failure is likely to spark public opinion that the cause is the hardliners of the US government, the ROK-US alliance, or the presence of US forces in Korea.”