[applause] >> ladies and gentlemen, now we'll move on to congratulate remarks by his excellency, doctor jin park, minister of foreign affairs republic of korea. former minister park was four-time national lawmaker on ruling people party and became foreign minister in may last year. thank you. >> hello, good morning. i am a park jin, foreign minister of the republic of korea. i would like to thank president gheewhan kim of the korean foundation, dr. john hamre of the csis, and secretary

tony blinken, and all the friends and supporters of the korea-u.s. alliance for inviting me to speak today's forum. let me first congratulate both the korea foundation and the csis on cohosting the korea-u.s. strategic forum today. i wish to recognize all that the kf and the csis have been achieving over many years to promote korea-u.s. relations at our mutual understanding. i also wish to acknowledge the distinguished speakers and participants at this year's forum. all of you have been critical to nurturing, sustaining, and advancing our alliance through thick and thin. i -- due to other commitments as the foreign minister. we are one week away on the 70th birthday of our alliance. the signing of the korea-u.s. mutual defense treaty on octobe.

so let us pause and reflect on what korea and the united states have accomplished together during this auspicious year. the washington declaration and the camp david trilateral summit would naturally come to mind here these titles will undoubtedly have a lasting place in history of our relationship. the term historic is often overused, but i'm sure everyone here would agree that president yoon suk yeol state dinner to the united states was indeed a story. it from put our partnership on track as a global comprehensive strategic alliance. and in the face of north korea's ever growing threats the washington declaration put forward concrete measures to bolster extended deterrence.

the nuclear consultant group that was launched in july is the first bilateral mechanism of its kind in the world. act in 1953 on the very day that the korea-u.s. mutual defense treaty was signed, secretary of state john foster dulles stated the following words, bitter experience has taught us that weakness invites aggression, that the requirement of peace and security is the maintenance of our strength. the washington declaration fulfills the requirement. seoul and washington have also adapted and upgraded our partnership to better meet the challenges of a changing world. accordingly, economic security and cutting edge of sectors have all become part and parcel of our partnership. these include biotechnology,

batteries, semiconductors, quantum computing, ai, and space. similarly, no one would dispute that the camp david trilateral summit was just as historic. .. >> every country will share information, align our messaging and coordinate our responses to various regional challenges. the promptness and depth of this commitment is noticeable.

our strong tri-lateral partnership will better shape the indo-pacific region in ways that are favorable to our come upon interest and to our shared values. lastly, let me touch upon north korea. i would be remiss not to do so, especially given the event that took place in the russian far east recently. north korea's nuclear and ballistic missile development constitutes clear violation of 10 u.n. security council resolutions starting from 1718, 1874, et cetera. all the way to 2397. just as important, all forms of arms trade and related cooperation with north korea are also in direct breach of multiple security council resolutions. both present significant

threats to peace and stability on the korean peninsula, the indo-pacific and beyond. attempts to assist north korea's unlawful program or to engage in arms trade with north korea must therefore stop. we sternly warn that these actions not only flagrantly violate multiple resolutions, but endanger security. permanent members of the security council including russia and china have a heavier duty to abide by binding resolutions adopted by the council. i cannot emphasize this enough. meanwhile, north korea continues to squander scarce resources on advancing unlawful nuclear and ballistic missile programs. it is launching record numbers of missiles and so-called satellites when its own people

are starving and economic hardship. the human rights of north korea people and the security on the korean peninsula are closely connected. the multi-million and tens of millions of dollars diverted to every missile launch should have been spent on improving the lives of its own starving people. north korea's actions are irrational, irresponsible and immoral. ladies and gentlemen, korea and the united states have built a thriving alliance that is among the strongest and most successful in the world. it's over seven decades how adaptable it is in the face of new challenges, but this success did not come without effort. we would not have come this far without the likes of staunch supporters such as those who are present here at this forum.

once again, i extend my heartcongratulations and best wishes for a successful event. thank you. [applause] >> good morning, everyone. and here and online, welcome to the 8th rok strategic forum. i'm here, at csis and georgetown. our keynote speaker. secretary blinken is no

stranger, you were an alum when you were here 20 years ago. so for all of you junior staff out there, there's a future after csis. you returned to csis a few years later to speak about the n.a.t.o. alliance and i went back and watched that speech again and you had less gray hair then. [laughter] >> but you said something very important, you said that the u.s. and its allies are operating, quote, operating in a strategic environment more fluid and more fraught with complexity than ever before, closed quotes. those words were both prophetic and accurate in describing what the u.s.-south korea alliance faces now five days shy of its 70th anniversary. the war in ukraine, china's assertive posture, north korea wmd campaign and other challenges require the alliance to be operating at a high performance with all cylinders

firing. thanks to you and the administration's hard work both here and in seoul, the alliance aspears to be as good as it's ever been. we're grateful for that and we're grateful for you joining us this morning. ladies and gentlemen, the csis statesman forum is honored with welcome the 71st secretary of state, antony blinken. [applause] >> thank you very, very much and good morning. john, wonderful to be back here. and so good to be with all of you this morning. i want to thank john, ambassador kim for the invitation to be here. as i was walking in, i heard the voice of my good friend and colleague, and i just want you to know that he is an exceptional colleague and i'm so gratitude to be able to work with him virtually every day. and yes, this is something victor said something of a homecoming for me, having been here 20 years ago.

i have to admit to feeling a little bit jealous because i'm a veteran of the building on k street so every time i walk into this building it's what happened? timing is everything. but thanks to john hamry, thanks to other colleagues i had, a couple of extremely rewarding years here at csis and in particular, i had an opportunity firsthand to watch john grow it into the tremendous intellectual force that it is today and i benefitted from the expertise of an extraordinary community of scholars. the only reason i left, i had my arm twisted by a certain senator from the state of delaware who had just taken over the senate foreign relations committee and it's especially good to be with my friend dr. cha. he's literally one of the first calls we make when we need

information on development of crisis and the levelheaded response and thoughtfulness to offing brings tremendous strength. the only place he doesn't bring that equanimity when it comes to his and my beloved new york giants. this is starting out to be a little bit of a tough year, but this forum comes at a moment of remarkable dynamism and importance for the u.s.-korea relationship. as you all know, in just a few days, we will celebrate 70 years since our country signed a mutual defense treaty. 70 years, a relationship that's grown from a key security alliance into a vital global partnership. one that's broadening in scope and significance seemingly every single day. now, first and foremost, that's a testament to the extraordinary ties between our people and between our economies. to the democratic values and the vision to the world that we share, but also, i believe, to the leadership of president biden and president un, and it's a testament to the power

and purpose of our diplomacy. since day one of this administration we have worked to reengage, to revitalize, to reimagine our core alliances and partnerships, our intensified engagement with korea is maybe one of the most striking examples of how we're not only deepening our alliances, but how we're weaving them together in innovative and reinforcing ways across issues and across continents, into new purpose coalitions. simply put, on so many consequential priorities for our people for the indo-pacific, for the world, we are working in partnership with the republic of korea. and i think if you look at it, we have been strengthening all aspects of our partnership, starting with our security. if you go back seven decades. our two nations joined alliance as we say forged in blood. a pact sealed by thousands of our service members who stood

together, who fought together, to died together to defend korea's freedom and democracy. ever since, our alliance has been fortified by our enduring cooperation. about the enduring spirit, we go together. today that commitment to mutual defense is ironclad and that starts with expended deterrents, particularly in the face of the dprk's provocative actions, including missile launches which everyone here violates resolutions that extend to the peninsula and beyond. beyond the launches themselves, dprk threats to broader security were demonstrated by kim jung-un visit to moscow,

and and also a dprk looking to strengthen and advance its own missile programs. working hand in hand to highlight the dangerous ways that russia and north korea operation threatens security. in april, president biden and president un young including through enhanced dialog and strategic planning and enhancing the strategic assets deployment to the korean peninsula, roux he starting port visits of nuclear submarines and cooperation between our militaries. already in just the space of a few months we're translating the declaration into concrete action. earlier this summer for the

first time in four decades a nuclear capable submarine made port. and the first meeting in july and this month the u.s.-rok held its second meeting already in seoul. last month, i think as you all saw, president biden hosted president yun and president yosheta at camp david and it did start a tri-lateral cooperation between our countries. and there were sensitive issues of history pursuing ambitious political agenda and starts with personal courage and commitment of their leaders. at the summit, our leaders discussed how to strengthen cooperation on a range of shared priorities.

we committed to consult with one another expeditiously to coordinate through collected security and interests. our countries agreed on practical ways for real-time sharing, tri-lateral defense exercises and to counter the malicious cyber activities, a growing challenge which fund the wmd and ballistic missile programs. before we had the opportunity to demonstrate that enhanced tri-lateral cooperation in response to the dprk's it could make a difference. at camp david, our shared commitment to rules-based order. cha includes freedom of navigation, peaceful resolution of disputes. they also reaffirmed the importance of peace and stability across the taiwan strait as an indispensible element of security and prosperity for the entire international community. our security alliance is

essential. it's at the foundation of our partnership, but it's not the only element that makes our relationship so consequential. we're also intensifying our economic partnership. since the free trade agreement was approved. bilateral trade has surged dramatically. over the last two years alone, korean companies invested more than $100 billion in the united states, driving innovation, creating good jobs, for americans and korean workers alike. in bay city, michigan, at filtron, facility that makes semiconductors, we drive greater growth for our countries. and in georgia, thanks to the inflation reduction act, setting up a $2.5 billion plant to make solar panels that will support thousands of local jobs and the global transition to a

green economy. investments like these in each other's countries and workers are critical for strengthening our supply chains and reducing our reliance on unreliable suppliers. we're working together to power inclusive, sustainable, shared economic growth across the entire indo-pacific region. together through the 14 country economic framework for prosperity, we're supporting a race to the top on issues shaping the 21st century economy. including supply chain resilience, clean energy transition, digital connectivity. at apec we're teamed up for a more sustainable facility for all. innovation, digitalization, and strong and inclusive growth. and we're also partnering together on a range of developments, in the subregion. climate resilience in the pacific islands. marine protection throughout

southeast asia. the united states and our partners are committed to making and demonstrating a stronger offer to countries in the region and to developing countries around the world working to deliver on the issues that matter in their lives from high quality infrastructure to inclusive economic growth, to climate resilience and adaptation solutions. the strength of that offer is directly tied to the strength of the partnerships working to deliver it. technology innovation have long been the foundation of both of our countries economic strength and we're broadening our cooperation there to take on global challenges. for example, we are collaborating on potential green shipping corridors between our countries which will require all ships to use lower emission fuels and all ports to reduce emissions so we can get the shipping sector on the path to decarbonization. and we're emerging partnerships to enhanced collaboration from

biotechnology, battery semiconductors, and digital quantum technologies and taking our digital partnerships all the way to space science and lunar operations. all of these efforts and initiatives designed to enhance the global good. finally, we're putting our partnership to work in driving peace and security around the world. that includes in ukraine where korea under the president has been partner with kyiv in the brutal war and the heart of the international order and the united nations charter, sovereignty, territorial independence, freedom. president putin's aggression against ukraine has been a monumental strategic failure for putin, but succeeded in one thing, bringing the transatlantic and indo-pacific closer than ever before. when russia cut off oil and gas supplies to europe to freeze

countries out of ukraine. korea, along with japan, joined america's liquefied natural gas producers to ensure that they would have enough energy to keep their homes warm throughout the winter. korea, japan, australia, new zealand are now regular and active participants in n.a.t.o. meetings, as president yun has said across the world stage korea is taking leadership, in development banks so the needs of people in low and middle income countries, as the next host of the summit for democracy, as a participant along with japan, at the u.s. tri-lateral conference on women's economic empowerment, a critical development in democracies, non-democracies, low and middle income countries alike and when they take the seat at the u.n. security

council we look forward to the strong voice, the voice it will bring in defense of the u.n. charter. and of korgs, all of you know, this is an extraordinary moment for brand korea around the world. if you look at the netflix list of top shows, inevitably you'll find korean programming at the top of that list. a few months ago i had the opportunity to be on one of our late night tv shows based in new york and as we drove up to the stage door, i saw a huge crowd of young people gathered. and i thought, well, that's pretty nice, a lot of people waiting here for me. turned out there was another guest on the show that night, leading korean k-pop band and the young people at the door didn't know who i was, but extremely excited about the k-pop band that followed in my wake. and you see the extreme

ambition share by korea and the united states for the next generation of our partnership. over the last couple of years we've made great strides in beginning to realize that vision and we're prioritizing steps to institutionalize our cooperation across so many areas so it endures for many years and many governments to come. to the benefit of our people and to people around the world. csis, the korea foundation, so many people in this room today were joining us by video are absolutely critical to these efforts and what i look forward to is the opportunity to make sure that the ongoing dialog that we have continues so that we together can continue to take the u.s.-korea partnership into the future. thank you so much. [applause]