President Biden and South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol celebrated their “ironclad alliance” Wednesday amid fife and drums on the White House lawn ahead of high-level meetings and a state dinner.
Mr. Biden and first lady Jill Biden greeted Mr. Yoon and his wife, Kim Keon Hee, one day after the president announced his formal bid for reelection.
It’s the second state visit of the Biden presidency — French President Emmanuel Macron came for the first — and is part of Mr. Biden’s attempt to shore up U.S. alliances in the face of Chinese aggression in the Indo-Pacific and other global crises.
“Today, our economies are on the vanguard of technology development, our nations are powerhouses of innovations and our people, united still by our demographic values, are taking on the challenges of the world, and we’re taking them on together,” Mr. Biden said.
“We’re standing strong against Russia’s brutal aggression against Ukraine, advancing an Indo-Pacific region that is free and open, building secure and resilient supply chains and pioneering the green energy economy.”
The U.S. president highlighted American and South Korean troops who fought in the Korean War and set the two nations on course for a 70-year alliance. Thousands of U.S. troops are still stationed on bases in South Korea.
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“It’s an unbreakable bond, forged in bravery and the sacrifice of our people,” Mr. Biden said before ceding the stage to Mr. Yoon to offer remarks in Korean.
The South Korean leader hailed the bravery of American troops who sacrificed their lives in a faraway land in the 1950s “for one noble cause, to defend freedom.”
The leaders headed into the Oval Office for a bilateral meeting.
Inside, they spoke about steady assistance for Ukraine and vigilance on the Korean peninsula.
“We’re doubling down on our cooperation as allies even as [North Korea] ramps up its challenges,” Mr. Biden said.
Mr. Yoon, meanwhile, repeated his belief the U.S.-South Korea partnership is “not a contractual alliance” but one that’s based on “shared universal values of freedom and democracy.”
Earlier Wednesday, Mr. Biden and Mr. Yoon announced the positive identification of the remains of Army Cpl. Luther H. Story, a Georgia man killed in the Korean War. He was honored for his valor, but his remains had not been found and identified for 73 years.
Korean War veterans attended the ceremony.
“Those veterans are the reason we can stand here today,” Mr. Biden said. “Two vibrant and innovative democracies — we stand strong, proud and free because of them.”
On Tuesday night, Mr. Biden and Mr. Yoon visited the Korean War Veterans Memorial in Washington.
Before the ceremony Wednesday, the U.S. announced it will deploy nuclear submarines to South Korea for the first time in 40 years under a new agreement that underscores Washington’s commitment to defend Seoul against nuclear threats from North Korea.
Under the agreement, the U.S. and South Korea will create a joint nuclear consultative group to improve the sharing of nuclear-related intelligence.
“Nothing is beyond our ability to reach when our nations and our people stand united. We have proven that time and again over the last 70 years,” Mr. Biden said.
• Tom Howell Jr. can be reached at thowell@washingtontimes.com.
• Jeff Mordock can be reached at jmordock@washingtontimes.com.
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