US alliance with S. Korea, Japan will get even stronger regardless of election: Pentagon

Washington, Aug 21 (IANS) The US’ alliance with South Korea and Japan will continue to get “even stronger”, a Pentagon spokesperson has said amid questions about how the American presidential election in November would affect Washington’s security and foreign policy.

Pentagon Press Secretary Maj. Gen. Pat Ryder made the remarks on Tuesday as Vice President Kamala Harris and former President Donald Trump are in a tight race for the White House following President Joe Biden’s exit from the contest last month, Yonhap news agency reported.”I am not going to get into a hypothetical other than to say (that) I think our alliances with Japan and South Korea are strong … stronger than they’ve ever been,” he told a press briefing.”I think going into the future, you will see them continue to get even stronger,” he added.A key pillar of the Biden administration’s foreign policy is to reinvigorate and leverage America’s network of alliances and partnerships to confront shared challenges, including North Korean “threats”.Harris is expected to build on that policy initiative, while Trump could bring about a policy shift under his “America first” credo.Asked to comment on North Korea’s claim that the ongoing major South Korea-US military exercise is a rehearsal for an invasion, Ryder called it “patently false”.”These exercises are defensive in nature. They are also longstanding and these are opportunities for our forces to work together on interoperability and to learn how to operate in dissimilar environments,” he said.Seoul and Washington kicked off Ulchi Freedom Shield, an annual exercise, on Monday. It features a computer simulation-based command post exercise, concurrent field training and civil defence drills.–IANSint/sha