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Austin, Lee Discuss State of U.S.-South Korea Alliance > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III emphasized the history that South Korea and the United States share as he welcomed South Korean National Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup to the Pentagon for talks, today.

The South Korean leader visited after participating in the dedication of the Korean War Veterans Memorial’s Wall of Remembrance yesterday. The wall contains both the names of Americans killed during the Korean War as well as the thousands of South Korean soldiers who served as augmentees for U.S. Army units during the conflict.

The wall honors those “who fought shoulder-to-shoulder together and made the ultimate sacrifice to forge a better future for both our countries,” Austin said. “We hope to honor their service and sacrifice today by further strengthening our alliance.”

Austin stressed that the U.S. commitment to the defense of the Republic of Korea is “ironclad.” North Korea remains the greatest threat to peace and stability on the peninsula, but the alliance between the United States and South Korea continues to grow. South Korea is a positive, democratic ally that is a force for peace and the international order that has fostered that peace.

North Korea has engaged in the most active period of missile tests in its history, Austin said. “Our alliance remains resolute and ready in the face of these dangerous and destabilizing actions,” he said.

He also restated President Joe Biden’s assurance that the U.S. extended deterrence commitment to South Korea that includes nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities.

Lee noted that in his first visit to the Pentagon, he was a young officer taking notes in the back of the room and that he feels tremendous responsibility being back in the Pentagon Nunn-Lugar Room as national defense minister. “I hope today’s meeting is an opportunity for us to discuss about our deterrence options of North Korean nuclear tests, and also how to respond to a North Korean threats bilaterally between the United States and the Republic of Korea,” Lee said.

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Austin Emphasizes Common Values, Beliefs With Hemispheric Partners > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News

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Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III called for greater cooperation and coordination among Western Hemisphere nations, as he addressed the Conference of Defense Ministers of the Americas in Brasilia today.

 

Austin said the nations of the hemisphere are bound together not only by geography, but by common values, common purpose and a common belief in democracy. “We believe that the entire Western Hemisphere can be secure, prosperous and democratic,” he said.  

Democracies in the region care deeply about human rights, human dignity and the rule of law, Austin said. “The more we deepen our democracies, the more we deepen our security,” he said. 

The security is threatened and the world is becoming an ever more complex place. “We’re fortunate to live as neighbors in a hemisphere of peace, but we must still be candid about our common challenges,” he said.  



Our common problems demand common action — from disaster relief to migration. Our shared challenges demand what I’ve called the power of partnership.”

Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III

Austin cited the challenges that arose from COVID-19 and challenges from some nations to the rule of law and human rights. Climate change is threatening the region and nations of the hemisphere need “greater capacities to respond to natural disasters,” he said. 

Finally, he noted, “autocratic powers are working to undermine the stable, open, rules-based international order in our region, that includes efforts by the People’s Republic of China to gain regional influence,” he said.  

Hemispheric leaders have pledged to work together to address regional concerns, most recently at the Summit of the Americas in Los Angeles last month. The climate crisis has forced nations to work together as hurricanes, sea-level rise, heat waves and more do not recognize national borders. “Our common problems demand common action — from disaster relief to migration,” he said. “Our shared challenges demand what I’ve called the power of partnership.” 

The defense ministers are discussing integrated deterrence in their deliberations. This is the heart of the American National Defense Strategy. “Integrated deterrence means working seamlessly across domains, theaters and the full spectrum of conflict,” Austin said. “And it means working closely with our unrivaled network of allies and partners.”  

This strategy means having military forces that are ready, capable “and under firm civilian control,” Austin said. “And it demands defense ministries that serve their citizens transparently and without corruption.” 

Austin announced that there is $115 million in the DOD budget for fiscal year 2023 for partners in Latin America and the Caribbean. “That will boost our investment in security cooperation in the hemisphere to more than half a billion dollars since 2020,” he said.  

In addition, the U.S. helped partner countries with vaccines and medical help during the pandemic. That will continue, Austin said, and added that the U.S. Navy hospital ship USNS Comfort will sail to the region in the coming months to help those nations particularly hard-hit by COVID-19.  

Austin also stressed that the democratic nations of the hemisphere must work together to recognize the full potential of all our people. “That means ensuring that women are free, safe and equally able to contribute to defense and security,” he said. The secretary particularly singled out the exchanges under the Women, Peace and Security program in more than 13 countries in the Western Hemisphere.

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Strategic Port Access Aids Support to Ukraine, Austin Tells Greek Defense Minister > U.S. Department of Defense > Defense Department News

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Priority access to the Port of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece has allowed the U.S. military to continue to support Ukraine as that nation fights to maintain its sovereignty following the unprovoked February 24 invasion by Russia, the U.S. defense secretary told his Greek counterpart.

 
Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin III hosted a meeting at the Pentagon today with Greek Defense Minister Nikolaos Panagiotopoulos. The two defense leaders discussed the growing partnership between the United States and Greece and the close cooperation between the two countries on basing, defense modernization and collective defense, particularly in the face of Russia’s aggression toward Ukraine. 

“The defense relationship between the United States and Greece has never been stronger,” Austin said. “The updated U.S.-Greece Mutual Defense Cooperation Agreement reflects our nations’ unshakeable commitment to shared peace and security. And it has enabled the expansion of U.S. forces in Greece to support the United State’s and NATO’s objectives for strategic access in the region.” 

Two examples of that partnership, Austin said, include the continued hosting of U.S. Naval forces at Souda Bay and priority access granted to U.S. military forces at the Port of Alexandroupolis in northeastern Greece, just 60 miles north of the Dardanelles Strait in Turkey. Port access allows quick entrance to the Sea of Marmara and then on through the Bosporus into the Black Sea. 

“That access allows us to continue to provide military assistance to Ukraine and to counter malign actors and exercise and operate in the Balkans and eastern Mediterranean and the Black Sea region,” Austin said. 

Panagiotopoulos thanked Austin for his leadership of the Ukraine Defense Contact Group, which stood up in April, and said Greece remains committed to providing continued support to Ukraine. 

“The reaction of Greece to the unprovoked Russian invasion of Ukraine was indeed swift and decisive,” Panagiotopoulos said. “We offered all the assistance we could afford Ukraine, a country that is under attack in violation of every rule of international law. We implement those sanctions imposed on the aggressor. Despite their cost to us, we’re willing to contemplate any other action, any other type of assistance that will [help.]” 

Greece’s location on the Mediterranean Sea, makes it a strategically positioned defense partner that can and does provide access to ensure NATO allies are able to defend their mutual interests. Panagiotopoulos said that part of the world now faces various forms of revisionism which pose a threat to all nations. 

“Greece is a key hub for supporting and … projecting allied presence in a region facing various forms of revisionism,” Panagiotopoulos said. “Revisionism, whether it takes the form of questioning basic rules governing the international legal order, or whether it’s expressed as the pursuit of changing internationally recognized borders — or both, as is often the case — constitutes a major threat to the interests of Greece, the interests of the United States, and the North Atlantic alliance in general. Revisionism of any form is against stability … revisionism must not prevail.”

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