South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol addressed a joint session of the U.S. Congress on Thursday, commemorating the 70th anniversary of his country’s alliance with America.
Yoon naturally spoke at length on the threat posed by North Korea, and also strongly condemned the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
Yoon praised the United States as a “nation conceived in liberty and dedicated to the proposition that all men are created equal.”
“I stand before that nation with a conviction of freedom, belief in the alliance, and the resolve to open a new future,” he said.
Yoon thanked Congress for passing a resolution on Thursday to honor the importance of the alliance with South Korea, which the resolution dated to the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) on October 1, 1953.
“Over the past century, we have faced many threats. The U.S. has always led in defense of freedom,” he said. “Humanity greatly suffered from the two World Wars. America defended freedom, but it was not without cost.”
Yoon said South Koreans remember the sacrifices America made to protect their freedom in the Korean War, giving the South a chance to become a “thriving nation” while North Korea slipped into darkness and tyranny.
“The U.S. leadership established a new world order based on free trade, and both peace and prosperity throughout the world – but prosperity was limited to free market economies where communist and totalitarian nations did not participate,” he noted.
Yoon paid tribute to America’s Korean War veterans, including some who had family members in the audience, and praised the positive influence of American culture on South Korea’s development. He poignantly noted that South Korea, “once a recipient of aid,” grew into “the only nation in modern history to become a donor.”
In one entertaining passage of his speech, Yoon noted that America created the massive Netflix streaming platform, where South Korean shows like Squid Game and movies like the Oscar-winning Parasite have become some of the most popular content for U.S. audiences. For his part, Yoon professed deep affection for Tom Cruise films like Top Gun: Maverick and the Mission Impossible franchise.
“BTS beat me to the White House, but I beat them to Capitol Hill,” he quipped, referring to the enormously popular K-pop group that visited the White House in June.
Yoon contrasted the prosperity that friendship with America has brought to South Korea with the inhuman horror of its China- and Russia-supported Communist neighbor to the north.
“The difference is stark between Seoul, that chose freedom and democracy, and Pyongyang, that chose dictatorship and communism,” he said. “North Korea has abandoned freedom and prosperity, and missed peace. North Korea’s nuclear program and missile provocations hold a serious threat to the peace of the Korean Peninsula and beyond.”
Yoon called for increased trilateral coordination between the U.S., South Korea, and Japan to “counter the increasing North Korean nuclear threat.”
“My government will respond firmly to provocations, while at the same time, we will keep the door open for dialogue for North Korea’s denuclearization,” he said. “I once again urge North Korea to cease its provocations and take the right path.”
“North Korea’s obsession with nuclear weapons and missiles is throwing its population into a severe economic crisis and human rights abuses. We must raise global awareness of the dire human rights situation in North Korea. We must not shy away from our duty to promote freedom for North Koreans,” he said, referring to a report his government published last month on Pyongyang’s atrocities.
“Unspeakable and horrendous incidents took place,” Yoon charged. “Men and women being shot and killed for violating [pandemic] prevention measures, some being publicly executed for watching and sharing South Korean shows, and people being shot in public for possessing the Bible and having faith.”
“We need to raise awareness. We must inform the world of the gravity of North Korea’s human rights violations,” he urged.
Yoon did not call out North Korea’s patrons in China by name in his remarks, but he did condemn the Russian invasion of Ukraine.
“The war against Ukraine is a violation of international law,” he argued. “It is an attempt to unilaterally change the status quo with force. Korea strongly condemns the unprovoked armed attack against Ukraine.”
“Korea’s experience shows us just how important it is for democracies to uphold solidarity,” Yoon said. “Korea will stand in solidarity with the free world. We will actively work to safeguard the freedom of the people of Ukraine.”