Harry Harris
Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Seoul
So, thanks and howdy for that kind introduction. I have the honor of tonight of speaking before General Abrams, which is good for me and great for you all because you’re in for a great speech as soon as I get off the podium.
So, before I begin though, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize some of the luminaries in this distinguished audience. Ambassador Han Chul Soo, thank you very much for your remarks and thank you for acknowledging our 41st President George HW. Bush. Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, General Abrahams, general Bills, distinguished Korea America Friendship Society members, and the dedicated members of the United States armed forces and guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to be with you in this evening. I would like to start by thanking the Korea America Friendship Society for your iron clad commitment to the US-ROK alliance and all that you are doing to advance the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula.
Now, I apologize in advance if I had shared this story with some of you before, but I think it’s one that this crowd might appreciate.
So, a few months back, I hosted an event at my home here in Seoul, and met a young Korean American college student. And she said to me “Ambassador, I hear you had a distinguished military career. Did you fight in the Korean War? Now, I tried not to take this as a commentary on how old I look and told her that it was my father not me, that did fight in the Korean War in the Navy. But this does illustrate though, an important point, and the reason I’m telling this story. The point is that, as the Korean War recedes into history, it is also receding in the minds of our youngest generations, and we can’t let that happen, ladies and gentlemen.
So this year, as this audience knows well and has been said before, we are celebrating the 65th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance. An alliance that serves as the foundation of peace and prosperity in the Korean peninsula, and the cornerstone for security and peace in the region. Several events in the past months, including Veterans Day and opening of special exhibition at the Korean War Memorial have highlighted this anniversary, and our long shared history as allies.
So this is a good opportunity for me to commend the Moon administration’s decision to boost Korea’s annual defense budget by over 8% to 42 billion dollars. The largest increase since 2008, and an integral part of President Moon’s Korea Defense Reform 2.0.
We applaud and support the republic’s commitment to modernizing its defense forces. As you may know, the US and ROK teams are meeting this week, in our tenth round of negotiations for the special measures agreement. We look forward to a successful conclusion to these important talks. The ROK-US alliance benefits greatly from Korea’s contributions, including its advanced technologies that are capable in professional military organization, and highly developed economic infrastructures. The US appreciates the considerable resources the ROK provides to support this alliance but more can and should be done in my opinion.
Now, let me talk about North Korea briefly. Earlier this year President Trump and President Moon took bold steps to transform our respective relations with Pyeongyang. This has given us a unique opportunity to establish an enduring peace on the peninsula, and to achieve the final fully verified denuclearization of the North.
All of these efforts as a whole reflect a level of commitment on the part of both our administrations to achieve a lasting peace on the peninsula, and the final fully verified denuclearization of North Korea. The potential for positive change in the North is limitless if Chairman Kim were to fulfill his commitment to denuclearize. However, as President Moon himself has said ‘inter-Korean dialogue must remain linked with progress in denuclearization.
So, let me close with these thoughts. Our nations continue to draw our strength from those who have served in the past, and those who are serving today. And our nations’ will continue to draw strength from those who will serve tomorrow. An unbroken chain linking Americans and Koreans to generations to generation, keeping the scale of freedom tipping in mankind’s favor.
In the past 65 years, America and the ROK have had success, in fact great success in preserving our freedoms in providing security for our citizens. Today, now more than ever, the ROK-US alliance is essential. We cannot take it for granted. We must not take it for granted.
So, thank you for inviting me to speak with you this evening. I hope you continue the good work you do to promote peace and stability on the peninsula. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year, god bless all of you, and god bless ROK-US alliance, 감사합니다, 같이 갑시다, 같이 갑시다, thank god almighty. 같이 갑시다.
Harry Harris
Ambassador, U.S. Embassy Seoul
So, thanks and howdy for that kind introduction. I have the honor of tonight of speaking before General Abrams, which is good for me and great for you all because you’re in for a great speech as soon as I get off the podium.
So, before I begin though, I would like to take the opportunity to recognize some of the luminaries in this distinguished audience. Ambassador Han Chul Soo, thank you very much for your remarks and thank you for acknowledging our 41st President George HW. Bush. Chairman Sohn Kyung-shik, General Abrahams, general Bills, distinguished Korea America Friendship Society members, and the dedicated members of the United States armed forces and guests, ladies and gentlemen, it is a pleasure for me to be with you in this evening. I would like to start by thanking the Korea America Friendship Society for your iron clad commitment to the US-ROK alliance and all that you are doing to advance the peace and stability in the Korean peninsula.
Now, I apologize in advance if I had shared this story with some of you before, but I think it’s one that this crowd might appreciate.
So, a few months back, I hosted an event at my home here in Seoul, and met a young Korean American college student. And she said to me “Ambassador, I hear you had a distinguished military career. Did you fight in the Korean War? Now, I tried not to take this as a commentary on how old I look and told her that it was my father not me, that did fight in the Korean War in the Navy. But this does illustrate though, an important point, and the reason I’m telling this story. The point is that, as the Korean War recedes into history, it is also receding in the minds of our youngest generations, and we can’t let that happen, ladies and gentlemen.
So this year, as this audience knows well and has been said before, we are celebrating the 65th anniversary of the US-ROK alliance. An alliance that serves as the foundation of peace and prosperity in the Korean peninsula, and the cornerstone for security and peace in the region. Several events in the past months, including Veterans Day and opening of special exhibition at the Korean War Memorial have highlighted this anniversary, and our long shared history as allies.
So this is a good opportunity for me to commend the Moon administration’s decision to boost Korea’s annual defense budget by over 8% to 42 billion dollars. The largest increase since 2008, and an integral part of President Moon’s Korea Defense Reform 2.0.
We applaud and support the republic’s commitment to modernizing its defense forces. As you may know, the US and ROK teams are meeting this week, in our tenth round of negotiations for the special measures agreement. We look forward to a successful conclusion to these important talks. The ROK-US alliance benefits greatly from Korea’s contributions, including its advanced technologies that are capable in professional military organization, and highly developed economic infrastructures. The US appreciates the considerable resources the ROK provides to support this alliance but more can and should be done in my opinion.
Now, let me talk about North Korea briefly. Earlier this year President Trump and President Moon took bold steps to transform our respective relations with Pyeongyang. This has given us a unique opportunity to establish an enduring peace on the peninsula, and to achieve the final fully verified denuclearization of the North.
All of these efforts as a whole reflect a level of commitment on the part of both our administrations to achieve a lasting peace on the peninsula, and the final fully verified denuclearization of North Korea. The potential for positive change in the North is limitless if Chairman Kim were to fulfill his commitment to denuclearize. However, as President Moon himself has said ‘inter-Korean dialogue must remain linked with progress in denuclearization.
So, let me close with these thoughts. Our nations continue to draw our strength from those who have served in the past, and those who are serving today. And our nations’ will continue to draw strength from those who will serve tomorrow. An unbroken chain linking Americans and Koreans to generations to generation, keeping the scale of freedom tipping in mankind’s favor.
In the past 65 years, America and the ROK have had success, in fact great success in preserving our freedoms in providing security for our citizens. Today, now more than ever, the ROK-US alliance is essential. We cannot take it for granted. We must not take it for granted.
So, thank you for inviting me to speak with you this evening. I hope you continue the good work you do to promote peace and stability on the peninsula. I hope you have a wonderful holiday season. Merry Christmas and a wonderful new year, god bless all of you, and god bless ROK-US alliance, 감사합니다, 같이 갑시다, 같이 갑시다, thank god almighty. 같이 갑시다.