On the 25th, President Yoon Suk Yeol visited the USS Theodore Roosevelt, an American aircraft carrier docked at the Busan Naval Operations Base. He emphasized that “the Korea-U.S. alliance is stronger than ever and the greatest in the world that can defeat any enemy and achieve victory.”
Earlier at the 74th anniversary event of the Korean War held in Daegu, Yoon strongly criticized the recent military cooperation treaty between Russia and North Korea as “a regressive and anachronistic action against the progress of history.” Through his visit to the Roosevelt aircraft carrier, he highlighted the robust Korea-U.S. alliance and the establishment of a strong deterrent against North Korea by tripartite cooperation between Korea, the U.S., and Japan.
According to Presidential Secretary for Unification Affairs Kim Soo Kyung in a written briefing, Yoon explained during his visit, “This visit to the Roosevelt aircraft carrier is an implementation measure of the Washington Declaration adopted by President Biden and I last April,” adding, “it symbolizes the U.S.’s ironclad defense commitment to Korea, including strong extended deterrence.”
Yoon announced, “The Roosevelt will depart tomorrow (26th) to participate in Freedom Edge, the first multi-domain military exercise of Korea, the U.S., and Japan,” and added, “The cooperation of the three countries sharing the values of liberal democracy will be another powerful deterrent along with the Korea-U.S. alliance.”
The Freedom Edge exercise is conducted to enhance the deterrence and response capabilities of the three countries against North Korean nuclear and missile threats, with the U.S. Roosevelt Carrier Strike Group visiting Korea to participate in the exercise.
Yoon’s visit marks the third time for a sitting president of the Republic of Korea to board the U.S.S. Roosevelt, following former Presidents Park Chung Hee in 1974 and Kim Young Sam in 1994.
When Yoon boarded the Roosevelt, a bell rang to announce the president’s boarding.
Afterward, about 300 Korean and U.S. soldiers, dressed in different colors according to their duties, greeted the president with loud cheers.
Along with key military officials, Yoon took an aircraft elevator to the flight deck, where he received a detailed explanation of various equipment including the main fighter jet FA-18 from Commander Christopher Alexander of the 9th Carrier Strike Group. The FA-18 also appeared in the movie Top Gun: Maverick.
Later, Yoon took a commemorative photo in front of the Island, the control tower of the aircraft carrier, with South Korean military commanders, the Commander of the U.S. 8th Army, the Commander of the 9th Carrier Strike Group, the aircraft carrier captain, and the commander of the aircraft carrier flight squadron.
