Republic of Korea (ROK) Minister of Foreign Affairs Chung Eui-yong and Minister of National Defense Suh Wook hosted a Joint Foreign and Defense Ministerial meeting with United States (U.S.) Secretary of State Antony J. Blinken and Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III in Seoul on March 18, 2021.
The Ministers and Secretaries reaffirmed that the ROK-U.S. Alliance, forged in blood on the battlefield 70 years ago, serves as the linchpin of peace, security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and the Indo-Pacific region. Amid increasing global threats, the Alliance has never been more important.
They also acknowledged that the ROK-U.S. Alliance has developed into a comprehensive global partnership grounded in mutual respect and trust, close friendship, strong people-to-people ties, and shared values of freedom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law. They vowed to further promote mutually-reinforcing and future-oriented cooperation across a wide range of areas encompassing a robust trade relationship, cooperation on combatting the climate crisis, and coordination on pandemic relief and post-COVID-19 economic recovery.
Both sides reaffirmed a mutual commitment to the defense of the ROK and to the strengthening of the ROK-U.S. combined defense posture, consistent with the ROK-U.S. Mutual Defense Treaty. U.S. officials reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to the defense of the ROK and its extended deterrence using the full range of U.S. capabilities.
Both sides committed to strengthening the Alliance deterrence posture, and they reiterated the importance of maintaining joint readiness against all shared threats to the Alliance through combined training and exercises. Both Secretaries and Ministers noted that U.S. forces in the ROK continue to play a critical role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region, and committed to continuing to ensure ..
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