S. Korea-U.S - White House reaffirms alliance will be strengthened under Trump: ARIRANG NEWS

ARIRANG NEWS

Published on Nov 10, 2016

美백악관 "역대 대통령, 정당 상관없이 한미동맹 강화"
The United States has reaffirmed that Washington's strong commitment to the security of South Korea -- one of its biggest Asian allies -- will continue to strengthen under the presidency of Donald Trump.

The statement out of the Obama-controlled White House came just hours after Trump reaffirmed the alliance during telephone talks with President Park Geun-hye.

Lee Minyoung starts us off. 

The White House has pledged that the United States will strengthen its alliance with South Korea under the Trump administration. 

White House press secretary Josh Earnest said at a briefing this week that there's a Democratic and Republican tradition to strengthen Washington's alliance with South Korea,... adding that the decades-long partnership 'supersedes' any individual presidency or political party.

Experts in the U.S. agree with the assessment out of the White House. 

Donald Manzullo, president of the Korea Economic Institute, said at conference on Thursday that the U.S.-South Korea alliance will remain strong under Trump....saying the relationship between South Korea and the U.S. is unusual, and nobody wants to see the quality of it impaired.

Trump's victory has cast uncertainly over diplomatic relations between Seoul and Washington as he made a series of controversial remarks during his campaign over U.S. security commitments overseas.

The remarks raised concerns that there could be a policy discontinuity in many areas, including North Korea, which requires a strong and united front by South Korea and the U.S.

Trump's win also threw into doubt the fate of the free trade agreement between the two countries, as the president-elect has denounced it as a "job-killing" deal... and vowed to scrap or drastically change the pact.

Lee Minyoung, Arirang News.