US-KOREA alliance stays strong: White House
White House press secretary Josh Earnest / Yonhap
By Hong Dam-young
The White House has expressed the strong U.S. commitment to the alliance with Korea despite the roiling political scandal around President Park Geun-hye.
White House press secretary Josh Earnest said on Saturday that the White House was well aware of Park’s dire situation, but said the U.S.-Korea alliance would not be affected by Korea’s domestic and political situation, according to the White House homepage.
His remarks about Park came from a press interview on Saturday aboard Air Force One heading to Fayetteville, North Carolina, where President Barak Obama was to support Democratic candidate Hillary Clinton’s campaign for the U.S. presidency.
“Obviously, she’s facing a difficult domestic political situation, and that’s something that I won’t weigh in on,” Earnest said when asked if Obama, despite his close relationship with Park’s administration in the past, was now trying to keep his distance from Park.
“I’m not aware that the President has weighed in on it, either in public or in private,” Earnest said.
Earnest did not go into detail about the White House’s stance on the scandal.
But he accentuated that one of the hallmarks of a strong alliance was that it remained “durable.”
He said Obama had an effective working relationship with not only Park during her years in the office, but also with her predecessors in terms of strengthening their alliance.
Even if Korea had to be led by a different president as an aftermath of the scandal, the alliance between countries would stay intact, Earnest said.
He added that Obama had not spoken to Park since he returned from his visit to Asian countries for the G20 Summit in September.
“But all of the other elements of our alliance remain in place,” Earnest said.
“And the U.S. commitment to that alliance is as strong as ever."
The scandal follows revelations that Park has been allowing longtime confidant Choi Soon-sil to meddle in state affairs.
Choi also has been benefitting from her ties with Park by gaining money from Korea’s major conglomerates.