Honolulu, May 15, 2025
Deterrence and diplomacy are
critical to the mission of maintaining peace in Northeast
Asia, Gen. Xavier T. Brunson, commander of
United Nations Command, said Wednesday during a visit to the
East-West Center.
The Center hosted Brunson, the
four-star general who has served as commander of UN Command,
the ROK/US Combined Forces Command, and US Forces Korea
since December 2024, for a private roundtable discussion
ahead of two upcoming milestones: the 75th anniversary of
the outbreak of the Korean War in June 1950 and the creation
of the UN Command a month later.
“For over 75 years,
something that was begun with a UN Security Council
resolution has managed to stand, and it’s protected the
peace,” Gen. Brunson said in highlighting the importance
of the UN Command in deterring aggression in the
region.
Coinciding with the Center’s own
65th anniversary on May 14, the event was attended by
approximately 60 invited guests and featured keynote remarks
by Gen. Brunson and welcome remarks from Gen. Seo Young Lee,
South Korea’s consul general in Honolulu. East-West Center
Presidential Chair Jean H. Lee moderated the discussion with
Gen. Brunson and Timothy Martin, Seoul Bureau Chief for
The Wall Street Journal.
Brunson
emphasized that in today’s interconnected world, US
relationships in the Indo-Pacific are multidimensional by
necessity. “What we find increasingly across the
Indo-Pacific is that we don’t have the luxury of being
binary in any way, shape, or form, because our economies are
entwined,” he said. “And where economics lie, the
livelihoods of the people … are also impacted and
affected.”
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Gen. Brunson also addressed the shifting
relationships among China, Russia, and North Korea,
emphasizing the importance of international cooperation in
the current security environment.
Although fighting
between North and South Korea ended with an armistice in
1953, the conflict is still considered ongoing in the
absence of a formal peace treaty. The Korean War’s 75th
anniversary also comes at a critical moment for South Korea,
which will hold a snap election on June 3rd in the wake of
the impeachment of former President Yoon Suk Yeol over his
declaration of martial law in December.
The discussion
with Gen. Brunson was supported by the First Hawaiian
Lecture Series Fund, established by First Hawaiian Bank to
provide a forum at the East-West Center for dialogue on key
international issues and new ideas. In his remarks, Gen.
Brunson emphasized the importance of such conversations to
the security and prosperity of the
Indo-Pacific.
“Dialogue is absolutely crucial in
this region,” he said. “It’s by dialogue that policy
is informed; it’s by dialogue that strategies are
formulated. … And if we can see things, if we can sense
things, if we can understand things better, then we can take
the appropriate actions that help all boats in the region to
rise.”
The East-West
Center promotes better relations and
understanding among the people and nations of the United
States, Asia, and the Pacific through cooperative study,
research, and dialogue. Established by the US Congress in
1960, the Center serves as a resource for information and
analysis on critical issues of common concern, bringing
people together to exchange views, build expertise, and
develop policy
options.
