Published 02:36 IST, October 31st 2020
US Election 2020: Biden pledges to strengthen alliance with South Korea, check Kim Jong Un
US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday, October 30, pledged to strengthen the alliance with South Korea if he wins the November 3 election.
US Democratic presidential nominee Joe Biden on Friday, October 30, pledged to strengthen the alliance with South Korea if he wins the November 3 election. In a special article contributed exclusively to Yonhap News Agency, Biden recited the catchphrase of the Korea-US alliance, "Katchi Kapshida" or "We Go Together" and said that he will stand with South Korea. The former US vice president also pledged to keep pressing for North Korea’s denuclearisation through "principled diplomacy".
In the article, titled ‘Hope for Our Better Future’, Biden said, "As president, I will stand with South Korea, strengthening our alliance to safeguard peace in East Asia and beyond, rather than extorting Seoul with reckless threats to remove our troops."
He added, "I will engage in principled diplomacy and keep pressing toward a denuclearised North Korea and a unified Korean Peninsula, while working to reunite Korean Americans separated from loved ones in North Korea for decades."
North Korea remains one of the most challenging foreign policy issues for the United States. In the article, Biden sought to contrast with Trump’s approach to diplomacy in the Korean Peninsula in his attempts to get North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un to agree to total denuclearisation up-front. Biden has been critical of Trump’s relationship with the North Korean leader and in the October 23 presidential debate he even attacked the US President for "legitimising" the nation by meeting with Kim Jong Un.
Biden pledges to ‘fix’ immigration system
The 77-year-old Democratic leader went on to praise South Korea’s miraculous rise from the ashes of war to become an "example of a flourishing democracy and economic powerhouse." He said that South Korea has been a global leader in the fight against coronavirus and a strong ally in the region to advance "shared prosperity, values and security and to meet global challenges." Further, Biden promised to help all migrants, including undocumented Koreas.
"I will work to fix our broken immigration system, provide a roadmap to citizenship for undocumented Koreans, and recognise the tens of thousands of Korean adoptees as the Americans they are," Biden said.
Meanwhile, with less than a week to go for one of the most divisive US elections on November 3, US President Donald Trump and Joe Biden are going all guns blazing to win the White House for the next four years. After both Trump and Biden held separate and simultaneous Town Halls earlier this month, the rivals held rallies just hours apart in Florida which is reportedly essential for Republicans to secure another term at the White House. The US President and former US vice president urged the voters to get to the polling stations in-person despite the tropical storm hindering the early voting in the southeast region.
(With inputs from ANI)
Updated 02:36 IST, October 31st 2020