Tag: Pete Hegseth

It makes sense that senior U.S. officials will want to keep their distance from Korea to not create the appearance of trying to influence the current impeachment uncertainty one way or the other:

The Pentagon on Friday reaffirmed America’s “ironclad” commitment to the South Korea-U.S. alliance and vowed to maintain the “fight tonight” readiness posture with the Asian ally, after Seoul was excluded from Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth’s upcoming trip to the Indo-Pacific.

The decision to exclude South Korea from the Pentagon chief’s first Asia swing since taking office in January came amid lingering speculation that a period of political uncertainty, caused by President Yoon Suk Yeol’s impeachment over his martial law attempt in December, would have a negative impact on the allies’ security cooperation.

“While we have no travel details to announce today, our ironclad commitment to the alliance remains clear,” Pentagon Press Secretary John Ullyot said in response to a request for comment by Yonhap News Agency.

He suggested that security cooperation between Seoul and Washington continues unimpeded.

“Freedom Shield 25 is currently underway, and it strengthens the role of the alliance as the linchpin of regional peace and security. The USS Carl Vinson also visited the peninsula this month and conducted operations with ROK forces,” referring to the allies’ ongoing annual military exercise. ROK is short of South Korea’s official name, the Republic of Korea.

“We will continue to maintain a ‘fight tonight’ readiness posture with our ROK allies,” he said.

Hegseth is said to be planning to visit Hawaii, Guam, Japan and the Philippines in what would be a high-profile trip to underscore the Trump administration’s commitment to the Indo-Pacific in the face of China’s growing assertiveness and North Korea’s recalcitrance.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.

The new Secretary of Defense says ties with both Japan and South Korea will be strengthened. The ties with both country’s militaries are already very strong. If anything it will be interesting to see if ties with South Korea degrade if President Trump decides to cancel joint military exercises like he did in his first term when pursuing diplomacy with North Korea:

Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth spoke Friday with his counterparts in South Korea and Japan, vowing to strengthen military ties with both countries amid regional security concerns, according to their respective defense ministries.

In his first phone call with South Korea’s acting defense minister, Hegseth and Kim Seon-ho agreed to “deepen and expand the level and scope” of their 71-year military alliance and strengthen security ties with Japan to deter North Korea, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said in a statement Friday. Hegseth also spoke that day with Japanese Defense Minister Gen Nakatani. The two expressed their “firm intent to continue the initiatives to reinforce the alliance,” Japan’s Defense Ministry said in a news release.

They also agreed to “bilaterally cooperate to realize the vision of a free and open” Indo-Pacific and reaffirmed that their security treaty covers the Senkaku Islands, which China claims as its territory.

Stars & Stripes

You can read more at the link.

It looks like one less block of mandatory training Soldiers need to worry about sitting through as the military’s EO program is going to have to be revamped to take out anything DEI:

President Donald Trump is expected to sign executive orders that remove diversity, equity and inclusion programs from the military and reinstate troops booted out of the service for refusing coronavirus vaccines during the pandemic, Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said Monday. “This is happening quickly, and as the secretary of defense, it’s an honor to salute smartly, as I did as a junior officer and now as the secretary of defense, to ensure these orders are complied with rapidly and quickly,” he said. (…….)

“No exceptions, name changes or delays. Those who do not comply will no longer work here,” he wrote.

Stars & Stripes

I think the Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff knows that his days are numbered as well:

Hegseth was greeted Monday by Air Force Gen. Charles “CQ” Brown, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, who Hegseth has criticized in the past. “First of all, you got to fire the chairman of the Joint Chiefs. Any general that was involved, general, admiral, whatever, that was involved in any of the DEI woke [stuff] has got to go,” he said during a November podcast interview on the “Shawn Ryan Show.”

You can read more at the link.

Its official the former Fox News host, Pete Hegseth is now the Secretary of Defense. He has absolutely no experience with the Korean peninsula or the Far East in general. Hopefully he is a quick learner:

The Senate voted Friday to confirm former Fox News Channel host Pete Hegseth as the United States’ next defense secretary, after allegations of sexual misconduct and other issues had dogged President Donald Trump’s pick for the top Pentagon post.

The upper chamber approved Hegseth in a vote where Vice President J.D. Vance broke a 50-50 tie, clearing a hurdle to Trump’s efforts to fill his Cabinet to forge ahead with his America First policy agenda.

In November, Trump tapped Hegseth, an Army veteran with tours in Guantanamo Bay, Iraq and Afghanistan, to serve as his defense secretary, describing him as a “warrior for the troops and for the country.”

During a confirmation hearing earlier this month, Hegseth described North Korea as a “nuclear power” that poses a threat to global stability, while highlighting the need for U.S. allies to increase “burden sharing” in pursuit of what he termed “healthy” partnerships.

Hegseth is the author of the recent book titled “The War on Warriors,” which Trump said reveals “how we must return our Military to meritocracy, lethality, accountability, and excellence.”

He had been a host at Fox News for eight years. He is a graduate of Princeton University and has a graduate degree from Harvard University.

Yonhap

You can read more at the link.