A resolution recognizing the importance of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea on October 1, 1953.

III 118TH CONGRESS 1ST SESSION S. RES. 175 Recognizing the importance of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea on October 1, 1953. IN THE SENATE OF THE UNITED STATES APRIL 26, 2023 Mr. MENENDEZ (for himself, Mr. RISCH, Mr. VAN HOLLEN, Mr. ROMNEY, Mr. KAINE, Mr. HAGERTY, Mr. OSSOFF, Mr. SULLIVAN, Mr. SCHATZ, Ms. HIRONO, and Mr. HOEVEN) submitted the following resolution; which was considered and agreed to RESOLUTION Recognizing the importance of the 70th anniversary of the signing of the Mutual Defense Treaty between the United States and the Republic of Korea on October 1, 1953. Whereas, on October 1, 1953, the Mutual Defense Treaty Between the United States and the Republic of Korea (5 U.S.T. 2368) was signed in Washington, D.C., to which the Senate provided its advice and consent to ratification on January 26, 1954; Whereas the shared commitment to recognize an armed at- tack on either of the Parties as dangerous to the peace and security of the other and to ‘‘act to meet the com- VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00001 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 2 •SRES 175 ATS mon danger in accordance with [each party’s] constitu- tional processes’’ remains in place today; Whereas the United States and Korea established diplomatic relations on May 22, 1882, with the signing of the Trea- ty of Peace, Amity, Commerce and Navigation, and the United States reestablished its diplomatic relationship with the ‘‘Republic of Korea’’ on March 25, 1949; Whereas, in 2023, the United States-Republic of Korea alli- ance marks 70 years since the cessation of hostilities in the Korean War and the signing of the Armistice Agree- ment on July 27, 1953, which remains in place today and neither formally ended the Korean War nor constituted a permanent settlement of peace on the Korean Penin- sula; Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance is the linchpin of peace, security, and stability on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific region and is essential to confronting the threat posed by the Democratic Peo- ple’s Republic of Korea (DPRK); Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance is root- ed in mutual trust, shared sacrifice, common values, eco- nomic interests, and generations of people-to-people ties that provide a foundation for one of the strongest, most interoperable, and enduring bilateral alliances in the world; Whereas the United States assures its ironclad security com- mitment to the Republic of Korea, including the United States extended deterrent underpinned by the full range of United States capabilities, including nuclear capabili- ties; VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00002 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 3 •SRES 175 ATS Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea alliance was forged in shared sacrifice, with 1,789,000 United States soldiers, sailors, airmen, and Marines serving during the Korean War, of whom 36,574 paid the ultimate sacrifice with their lives in defense of the Republic of Korea, in- cluding 7,174 Korean Augmentation to the United States Army (KATUSA) soldiers, and the over 7,500 members of the United States Armed Forces that remain classified by the Department of Defense as missing in action; Whereas casualties of the Republic of Korea were more than 217,000 soldiers killed, more than 291,000 wounded, and over 1,000,000 civilians killed or missing; Whereas the Republic of Korea has since its founding become a thriving democracy with a vibrant press and commit- ment to the rule of law and a free market economy; Whereas the United States-Republic of Korea Security Con- sultative Meeting met on November 3, 2022, in Wash- ington, D.C. and ‘‘shared their common understanding that the U.S.-ROK Alliance is based on the same prin- ciples and shared values including: mutual trust, free- dom, democracy, human rights, and the rule of law’’; Whereas the United States and the Republic of Korea are committed to pursuing closely coordinated diplomatic ef- forts through a shared strategy to achieve the complete, verifiable, and irreversible denuclearization of North Korea and establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula; Whereas the Republic of Korea’s 2022 Strategy for a Free, Peaceful, and Prosperous Indo-Pacific Region emphasizes its desire to be a global pivotal state that commits ‘‘to working with other key nations both within and beyond VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00003 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 4 •SRES 175 ATS the region to foster a free and peaceful region . . . while strengthening the rules-based international order’’; Whereas President Yoon Suk Yeol took the courageous and bold step of announcing that the Government of the Re- public of Korea would compensate Korean victims of Jap- anese wartime labor in order to facilitate the resolution of an issue that has hampered cooperation with Japan; Whereas a robust and effective trilateral relationship between and among the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan is critical for joint security and interests in de- fending freedom and democracy, upholding human rights, promoting peace, security, and the rule of law in the Indo-Pacific and across the globe, championing women’s empowerment, and combating and adapting to complex environmental challenges; Whereas the American and Korean people share deeply root- ed values of defending freedom, championing economic development, upholding human rights, and respecting the rule of law; Whereas the United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan have held a series of trilateral meetings, including a trilateral leaders’ summit on November 13, 2022, a Foreign Ministers’ meeting on September 23, 2022, and a vice ministerial meeting on February 13, 2023, at which the three countries committed to continuing tri- lateral exercises on ballistic missile defense and anti-sub- marine warfare, and further determined to explore new areas of security cooperation, including sharing DPRK missile warning data in real time; Whereas the Republic of Korea is the United States’ seventh largest goods trading partner with $162,900,000,000 in VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00004 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6300 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 5 •SRES 175 ATS total (two-way) goods trade and $31,500,000,000 in total services trade for a combined $194,400,000,000 in 2021, and is one of the United States top sources of Foreign Direct Investment (FDI), which totaled $110,600,000,000 in 2021 and, according to the Bureau of Economic Analysis, South Korea multinational enter- prises (MNEs) in the United States employed almost 84,000 employees in 2020; Whereas the strength of the United States-Republic of Korea relationship is due in large part to the approximately 2,500,000 Korean Americans that have made significant contributions to every facet of American society and lead- ership to now include four members of the House of Rep- resentatives: Andy Kim of New Jersey, Young Kim of California, Marilyn Strickland of Washington, and Michelle Steel of California; and Whereas, in April 2023, President Yoon Suk Yeol will visit the United States at the invitation of President Joseph R. Biden: Now, therefore, be it Resolved, That the Senate— 1 (1) welcomes President Yoon Suk Yeol to the 2 United States and urges both sides to use the occa- 3 sion of this state visit to further deepen the close se- 4 curity, economic, and people-to-people ties between 5 our nations; 6 (2) reaffirms the importance of the United 7 States-Republic of Korea alliance as the linchpin to 8 safeguarding peace, security, and prosperity on the 9 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00005 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 6 •SRES 175 ATS Korean Peninsula and a critical component of peace 1 in the Indo-Pacific region; 2 (3) reaffirms the United States’ extended deter- 3 rence commitments to the Republic of Korea and 4 that the United States will continue to ensure that 5 its policy and posture reflects the requirements of 6 extended deterrence; 7 (4) supports ongoing efforts to further 8 strengthen, broaden, and deepen the ironclad United 9 States-Republic of Korea alliance, including the 10 United States-Republic of Korea Foreign and De- 11 fense Ministerial Meeting (2+2), the Security Con- 12 sultative Meeting, and the Extended Deterrence 13 Strategy and Consultation Group, to confront 14 threats to the peace and safety of both nations, and 15 to stand together for the common values and shared 16 interests that unite us; 17 (5) calls for continued cooperation between the 18 Governments of the United States and the Republic 19 of Korea in the promotion of human rights; 20 (6) supports the Republic of Korea’s engage- 21 ment in regional diplomacy, including the launching 22 of the ROK-ASEAN Solidarity Initiative, the Repub- 23 lic of Korea’s participation in the Minerals Security 24 Partnership, its joining of the Partners in the Blue 25 VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00006 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6201 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB 7 •SRES 175 ATS Pacific, and its hosting of a summit with Pacific Is- 1 land nations; 2 (7) endorses further Republic of Korea engage- 3 ment with Quad initiatives; 4 (8) calls for close coordination to achieve the 5 denuclearization of the Democratic People’s Republic 6 of Korea and the establishment of a permanent and 7 lasting peace on the Korean Peninsula; 8 (9) encourages close cooperation among the 9 United States, the Republic of Korea, and Japan to 10 address shared challenges; and 11 (10) recognizes the deep partnership forged 12 over 70 years since the signing of the Mutual De- 13 fense Treaty that has underpinned security for both 14 countries, established a durable trust, undergirded 15 the free and open order in the Indo-Pacific, and 16 demonstrated the benefits of robust democracies on 17 both sides of the Pacific. 18 Æ VerDate Sep 11 2014 00:25 Apr 27, 2023 Jkt 039200 PO 00000 Frm 00007 Fmt 6652 Sfmt 6301 E:\BILLS\SR175.ATS SR175 pbinns on DSKJLVW7X2PROD with $$_JOB