China delegate questions US general's description of South Korea as 'dagger in heart of Asia'

Added: 2026-06-01

[00:00:00]Thank you for your speech, Secretary Mattis.

[00:00:03]Most recently, US Forces Korea commander, General Xavier Brunson, Brunson made a striking remark in a public interview stating that South Korea is {quote} a dagger in the heart of Asia aimed at China. This comment stands in a stark contradiction to the spirit of a constructive China-US relationship of strategic stability which our two presidents agreed to build during President Trump's most recent visit to China, which you also just referred to in your speech.

[00:00:37]President Trump, in particular, has also repeatedly emphasized his desire to forge the best possible relationship with China. My question is simple. Does General Brunson's statement represent the official position of the Trump administration? And is his characterization of South Korea's role as a dagger aimed at China authorized authorized or endorsed by the Pentagon?

[00:01:03]Thank you.

[00:01:04]>> Thank you very much. The General is in the room, so he has an opportunity to perhaps follow up with you in the coffee break. Okay, yeah.

[00:01:14]There we go.

[00:01:15]>> General >> Thank you. Mr. Secretary, thank you so much for that. Um General >> [laughter] >> If you could please raise your hand, the gentleman who asked the question that I'm talking to directly. What I said was trying to describe the operating environment. Because what's incredibly important in being strong and quiet is about being able to describe the environment where in we're working. If you remember the Prussian philosopher, military philosopher Clausewitz, talked about Korea being a dagger pointed at Japan. The difference is is we have to change our perspective, which is why the East up map is important. By changing our perspective, we take into account how others might see us in the region.

[00:01:59]We've got to be strong. We've got to have the right capabilities within the Republic of Korea, but we have to understand that those things still exist. You have to combat those things every day. What I was trying to do in a place of learning was talk to war college students about how we have to change our perspective and think about where we are. Then I can advise not only my service secretary service secretary, but then my secretary my boss in the Department of War on what things we might do. The secretary also mentioned opcon transfer.

[00:02:32]The position that we have within the peninsula based on our great allies represented by uh Minister of Defense Hong Gyu Bak, who's right here in the front row, is important. But what's also important is that we have the right capabilities at the right place in the right time, but also take into account our perspectives. I'm encouraged by the fact that my president and my secretary went to China. That is tremendous, and that we might have increased relationships where we might talk. And we have to remember that when we're talking to students, we want them to understand and appreciate other perspectives other than our own.

[00:03:07]So many times in in over the course of my career and the secretary's career, we've thought blue and red.

[00:03:14]Well, now there's a green there where we might have in this green space the opportunity to talk and to have military thought. The only way there will be philosophers in the future wearing uniforms like myself will be that we enter into the field of ideas. And we challenge ideas. And I'm okay with the challenge of the ideas, but we have to remember that context will always be king.

[00:03:37]And we have to take remarks contextually. And I would encourage that you listen to the entire podcast as well as the speech that I gave to the war college students, which was pretty good.