Importance of alliance highlighted during KDVA event

Participants at the 2020 KDVA Alliance Education Conference for Junior Service Members, hosted by the Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) Korea Chapter, post for a photo at the at the Osan Air Base, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday. /Courtesy of KDVA

By Do Je-hae

The Korea Defense Veterans Association (KDVA) Korea Chapter, an association of U.S. veterans who served in Korea as members of the United States Forces Korea (USFK), held the 2020 KDVA Alliance Education Conference for Junior Service Members, at Osan Air Base, Gyeonggi Province, Thursday.

Maj. Gen. Lee Seo-young, former defense attache to the U.S. from 2011 to 2013, retired Gen. Choi Byung-hyuk, a former deputy commander of the U.S.-Korea Combined Forces Command, and Maj. Gen. Stephen Williams, chief of staff at the USFK, were among some 60 participants in the event.

The event featured a lecture on the alliance and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula by Ambassador Hwang Joon-kook, a former minister for political affairs at the Korean Embassy in the U.S., followed by a luncheon. Hwang served as Korean ambassador to the United Kingdom from February 2016 to March 2018.

"Since the end of the Korean War, South Korean and U.S. forces have maintained a strong alliance, fighting together in Vietnam, Iraq and Afghanistan," Maj. Gen. Lee said during his welcoming remarks.

"The ROK-U.S. alliance is the foundation of the defense of the Republic of Korea. We have maintained a strong ROK-U.S. combined defense system for the past 70 years. The alliance has enabled Korea to become the world's 10th-largest economic power while maintaining war deterrence and peace," he said.

Hwang underlined the importance of the alliance between Korea and the U.S. in the era of superpower rivalry.

"The significance of the Korea-U.S. alliance is growing even bigger in the era of U.S.-China competition," Hwang said during the lecture. "The South Korea-U.S. alliance has undertaken war deterrence, peacekeeping in Northeast Asia and supported South Korea's economy and prosperity. South Korea and the U.S. have long shared common values such as democracy, human rights, and the rule of law."

During congratulatory remarks, Maj. Gen. Williams thanked the KDVA Korea Chapter for hosting a meaningful event despite COVID-19 for young service members of the USFK.

Founded in 2017, the KDVA is led by Vincent Brooks, a retired United States Army general who previously commanded the USFK, United Nations Command, and ROK-U.S. Combined Forces Command.

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