[Congressional Record Volume 169, Number 70 (Wednesday, April 26, 2023)]
[Senate]
[Pages S1391-S1392]
From the Congressional Record Online through the Government Publishing Office [www.gpo.gov]




     SENATE RESOLUTION 175--RECOGNIZING THE IMPORTANCE OF THE 70TH 
  ANNIVERSARY OF THE SIGNING OF THE MUTUAL DEFENSE TREATY BETWEEN THE 
       UNITED STATES AND THE REPUBLIC OF KOREA ON OCTOBER 1, 1953

  Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. Risch, Mr. Van Hollen, Mr. Romney, Mr. 
Kaine, Mr. Hagerty, Mr. Ossoff, Mr. Sullivan, Mr. Schatz, Ms. Hirono, 
and Mr. Hoeven) submitted the following resolution; which was 
considered and agreed to:

                              S. Res. 175

       Whereas, on October 1, 1953, the Mutual Defense Treaty 
     Between the United States and the Republic of Korea (5 U.S.T. 
     2368) was signed in Washington, D.C., to which the Senate 
     provided its advice and consent to ratification on January 
     26, 1954;
       Whereas the shared commitment to recognize an armed attack 
     on either of the Parties as dangerous to the peace and 
     security of the other and to ``act to meet the common danger 
     in accordance with [each party's] constitutional processes'' 
     remains in place today;
       Whereas the United States and Korea established diplomatic 
     relations on May 22, 1882, with the signing of the Treaty of 
     Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation, and the United States 
     reestablished its diplomatic relationship with the ``Republic 
     of Korea'' on March 25, 1949;
       Whereas, in 2023, the United States-Republic of Korea 
     alliance marks 70 years since the cessation of hostilities in 
     the Korean War and the signing of the Armistice Agreement on 
     July 27, 1953, which remains in place today and neither 
     formally ended the Korean War nor constituted a permanent 
     settlement of peace on the Korean Peninsula;
       Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance is the 
     linchpin of peace, security, and stability on the Korean 
     Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region and is essential to 
     confronting the threat posed by the Democratic People's 
     Republic of Korea (DPRK);
       Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance is 
     rooted in mutual trust, shared sacrifice, common values, 
     economic interests, and generations of people-to-people ties 
     that provide a foundation for one of the strongest, most 
     interoperable, and enduring bilateral alliances in the world;
       Whereas the United States assures its ironclad security 
     commitment to the Republic of Korea, including the United 
     States extended deterrent underpinned by the full range of 
     United States capabilities, including nuclear capabilities;
       Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance was 
     forged in shared sacrifice, with 1,789,000 United States 
     soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines serving during the 
     Korean War, of whom 36,574 paid the ultimate sacrifice with 
     their lives in defense of the Republic of Korea, including 
     7,174 Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) 
     soldiers, and the over 7,500 members of the United States 
     Armed Forces that remain classified by the Department of 
     Defense as missing in action;
       Whereas casualties of the Republic of Korea were more than 
     217,000 soldiers killed, more than 291,000 wounded, and over 
     1,000,000 civilians killed or missing;
       Whereas the Republic of Korea has since its founding become 
     a thriving democracy with a vibrant press and commitment to 
     the rule of law and a free market economy;
       Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea Security 
     Consultative Meeting met on November 3, 2022, in Washington, 
     D.C. and ``shared their common understanding that the U.S.-
     ROK Alliance is based on the same principles and shared 
     values including: mutual trust, freedom, democracy, human 
     rights, and the rule of law'';
       Whereas the United States and the Republic of Korea are 
     committed to pursuing closely coordinated diplomatic efforts 
     through a shared strategy to achieve the complete, 
     verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea 
     and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula;
       Whereas the Republic of Korea's 2022 Strategy for a Free, 
     Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region emphasizes its 
     desire to be a global pivotal state that commits ``to working 
     with other key nations both within and beyond the region to 
     foster a free and peaceful region . . . while strengthening 
     the rules-based international order'';
       Whereas President Yoon Suk Yeol took the courageous and 
     bold step of announcing that the Government of the Republic 
     of Korea would compensate Korean victims of Japanese wartime 
     labor in order to facilitate the resolution of an issue that 
     has hampered cooperation with Japan;
       Whereas a robust and effective trilateral relationship 
     between and among the United States, the Republic of Korea, 
     and Japan is critical for joint security and interests in 
     defending freedom and democracy, upholding human rights, 
     promoting peace, security, and the rule of law in the Indo-
     Pacific and across the globe, championing women's 
     empowerment, and combating and adapting to complex 
     environmental challenges;
       Whereas the American and Korean people share deeply rooted 
     values of defending freedom, championing economic 
     development, upholding human rights, and respecting the rule 
     of law;
       Whereas the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan 
     have held a series of trilateral meetings, including a 
     trilateral leaders' summit on November 13, 2022, a Foreign 
     Ministers' meeting on September 23, 2022, and a vice 
     ministerial meeting on February 13, 2023, at which the three 
     countries committed to continuing trilateral exercises on 
     ballistic missile defense and anti-submarine warfare, and 
     further determined to explore new areas of security 
     cooperation, including sharing DPRK missile warning data in 
     real time;
       Whereas the Republic of Korea is the United States' seventh 
     largest goods trading partner with $162,900,000,000 in total 
     (two-way) goods trade and $31,500,000,000 in total services 
     trade for a combined $194,400,000,000 in 2021, and is one of 
     the United States top sources of Foreign Direct Investment 
     (FDI), which totaled $110,600,000,000 in 2021 and, according 
     to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, South Korea multinational 
     enterprises (MNEs) in the United States employed almost 
     84,000 employees in 2020;

[[Page S1392]]

       Whereas the strength of the United States-Republic of Korea 
     relationship is due in large part to the approximately 
     2,500,000 Korean Americans that have made significant 
     contributions to every facet of American society and 
     leadership to now include four members of the House of 
     Representatives: Andy Kim of New Jersey, Young Kim of 
     California, Marilyn Strickland of Washington, and Michelle 
     Steel of California; and
       Whereas, in April 2023, President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit 
     the United States at the invitation of President Joseph R. 
     Biden: Now, therefore, be it
       Resolved, That the Senate--
       (1) welcomes President Yoon Suk Yeol to the United States 
     and urges both sides to use the occasion of this state visit 
     to further deepen the close security, economic, and people-
     to-people ties between our nations;
       (2) reaffirms the importance of the United States-Republic 
     of Korea alliance as the linchpin to safeguarding peace, 
     security, and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and a 
     critical component of peace in the Indo-Pacific region;
       (3) reaffirms the United States' extended deterrence 
     commitments to the Republic of Korea and that the United 
     States will continue to ensure that its policy and posture 
     reflects the requirements of extended deterrence;
       (4) supports ongoing efforts to further strengthen, 
     broaden, and deepen the ironclad United States-Republic of 
     Korea alliance, including the United States-Republic of Korea 
     Foreign and Defense Ministerial Meeting (2+2), the Security 
     Consultative Meeting, and the Extended Deterrence Strategy 
     and Consultation Group, to confront threats to the peace and 
     safety of both nations, and to stand together for the common 
     values and shared interests that unite us;
       (5) calls for continued cooperation between the Governments 
     of the United States and the Republic of Korea in the 
     promotion of human rights;
       (6) supports the Republic of Korea's engagement in regional 
     diplomacy, including the launching of the ROK-ASEAN 
     Solidarity Initiative, the Republic of Korea's participation 
     in the Minerals Security Partnership, its joining of the 
     Partners in the Blue Pacific, and its hosting of a summit 
     with Pacific Island nations;
       (7) endorses further Republic of Korea engagement with Quad 
     initiatives;
       (8) calls for close coordination to achieve the 
     denuclearization of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea 
     and the establishment of a permanent and lasting peace on the 
     Korean Peninsula;
       (9) encourages close cooperation among the United States, 
     the Republic of Korea, and Japan to address shared 
     challenges; and
       (10) recognizes the deep partnership forged over 70 years 
     since the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty that has 
     underpinned security for both countries, established a 
     durable trust, undergirded the free and open order in the 
     Indo-Pacific, and demonstrated the benefits of robust 
     democracies on both sides of the Pacific.

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