Visiting South Korea, former Vice President Harris calls the ROK-U.S. Alliance a “linchpin,” sidesteps direct answer on speculation about presidential comeback

[Financial News] Former U.S. Vice President Kamala Harris, who is visiting South Korea, underscored on the 14th that the ROK-U.S. Alliance is a linchpin. Harris made the remarks during a special lecture and discussion on “U.S. Leadership and the Future of Alliances” at the Asan Institute for Policy Studies in Jongno District, Seoul. “The ROK-U.S. Alliance has served as a linchpin for security and prosperity on the Korean Peninsula and in the Indo-Pacific,” she said. “I returned to Seoul after visiting in 2022 because I believe that remains true.”
She also spoke about the importance of strengthening deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear threat. “Given the growing ties among North Korea, China, Iran and Russia, there is no doubt that we need to strengthen extended deterrence,” she said.
Harris also said she hoped Korean companies would continue making voluntary investments in the United States in sectors including shipbuilding, semiconductors and electric vehicles.
“I’ve visited a Hanwha Qcells factory in Georgia,” she said. “Korea’s investment in technology in the United States, as well as job creation in the U.S., is tremendously important and valuable. So please keep doing what you’re doing.” She added that investment in the United States should be voluntary, not the result of any threat or pressure.
She sidestepped a direct answer when asked whether she would run again in the 2028 U.S. presidential election. “If we don’t win in 2026, 2028 has no meaning,” Harris said, adding that for now she would focus on winning the U.S. midterm elections in November.
“I had a prior commitment to come to Seoul this week, but I’ll go back and continue campaigning, traveling full-time across the United States as I’ve been doing,” she said. She predicted that the Democratic Party would defeat the Republican Party and win control of both chambers of Congress, the House and the Senate.
She also criticized what she called President Donald Trump’s misguided foreign policy. On Trump’s arbitrary adjustments to the intensity of U.S.-ROK joint military exercises, she said, “To say I was disappointed is a huge understatement.” She criticized the Trump administration’s erratic tariff policies and its stance toward North Korea as “undermining the cohesion of our alliances and diminishing America’s standing in the world.”
She said the United States and China should be in a healthy competitive relationship, not a relationship of confrontation. However, she said there were concerns over China’s dumping, intellectual property theft and Taiwan’s security.


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