Andy Kim, the first-ever Korean American senator, said Wednesday that if incoming President Donald Trump uses military or economic coercion against Asian partners, he would stand up “vigorously” against it.
Kim (D-NJ) made the remarks, a day after Trump refused to rule out employing military or economic coercion to retake the canal, which Panama took control of in 1999, and acquire Greenland, an autonomous Danish territory, in remarks that Kim cast as “confounding.”
“We see a kind of belligerence like what we see right now with Donald Trump talking about Greenland or Panama,” Kim said during a meeting with Korean and Asian American reporters.
“If he uses that kind of rhetoric or uses military or economic coercion with partners in Asia, I will stand up against that vigorously,” he added.
The senator noted that he is not positive about what Trump will do with regards to South Korea and the broader Indo-Pacific region, but he vowed to work to protect regional alliances and partnerships and reiterated his commitment to being a “bridge” between South Korea and the United States.
“I have sat down already with Sen. Marco Rubio as well as Congresswoman Elise Stefanik, and I have raised (with) them directly my desire to see the U.S. continue with the trilateral process, with the Quad and other types of actions that we have in the region,” he said, referring to Trump’s picks for his secretary of state and ambassador to the U.N.
“I told them that I am willing to work with the incoming Trump administration if they are going to engage on efforts to strengthen our alliances and our partnerships, but I will stand up against them if they take actions that I think are going to weaken those partnerships.”
Commenting on concerns that Trump could seek a drawdown or withdrawal of American troops in South Korea, Kim warned of bipartisan pushback against it.
“If President Trump were to try that again or hint at that, I think there would again be very strong bipartisan pushback against that,” he said. “That’s something that I feel strongly about.”
In November, Kim won the Senate seat for New Jersey that was up for grabs as former Sen. Bob Menendez resigned in August following his conviction on bribery charges. Kim took office last month, succeeding George Helmy who was appointed in August to succeed Menendez.
Yonhap
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