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| John Kirby, National Security Council Coordinator for Strategic Communications, answers questions during the daily press briefing at the White House in Washington, U.S., Jan. 25. Reuters-Yonhap |
The United States will protect its national security interests, as well as those of key ally Korea, a White House National Security Council (NSC) official said Monday, amid tension over an alleged Chinese surveillance balloon shot down by the U.S.
John Kirby, NSC coordinator for strategic communications, said he no available data when asked about China's possible surveillance of the Korean Peninsula.
"I can't speak to specific surveillance operations that the Chinese might or might not be conducting over the Korean Peninsula," he said during a virtual press briefing.
"All I can tell you is what I have told you so many times before that we are going to do what we have to do to make sure the ROK-U.S. alliance is strong and vibrant as it can be, to protect our national security interests and the interests of our South Korean allies and, of course, the U.S. men and women who live and work there every day," he added.
ROK stands for the Republic of Korea, South Korea's official name. The U.S. currently has some 28,500 troops stationed in Korea.
The U.S. shot down the alleged Chinese spy balloon over the weekend as it made its way through the continental U.S. to the Atlantic Ocean.
Beijing claims it was a weather balloon that belonged to a private Chinese company.
The U.S. has said the size of the balloon was significantly larger than any other weather balloon and that it was believed to be carrying spy equipment. (Yonhap)
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