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UPI
a day ago
- Politics
- UPI
U.S., South Korea kick off summertime joint military exercise
South Korean and U.S. forces kicked off their annual summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield joint military exercise on Monday, amid efforts by Seoul to improve relations with North Korea. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo SEOUL, Aug. 18 (UPI) -- The United States and South Korea kicked off their annual summertime joint military exercise on Monday, amid efforts by Seoul to improve relations with North Korea. The 11-day Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, which runs through Aug. 28, includes live field maneuvers, computer simulation-based command post exercises and related civil defense drills. Some 21,000 troops will be mobilized, including 18,000 South Korean personnel. Pyongyang, which routinely condemns the allies' joint drills as rehearsals for an invasion, last week warned of "negative consequences" and held its own artillery firing contest. The North will "strictly exercise the sovereign right of the DPRK at the level of the right to self-defense in a case of any provocation going beyond the boundary line," Defense Minister No Kwang Choi said in a statement. The Democratic People's Republic of Korea is the official name of North Korea. The joint exercise comes as South Korean President Lee Jae Myung makes a push to improve inter-Korean relations. In a speech Friday marking the 80th anniversary of Korea's liberation from Japanese colonial rule, Lee vowed to "respect" North Korea's political system and said Seoul would not pursue "unification by absorption." "We have no intention of engaging in hostile acts," Lee said. "Going forward, our government will take consistent measures to substantially reduce tensions and restore trust." Among the measures Lee has called for is the restoration of the 2018 inter-Korean military pact, which was suspended in 2024 amid growing hostility between Seoul and Pyongyang. The pact established buffer zones along the border and included measures such as the removal of some guard posts in the DMZ and the banning of live-fire exercises in certain areas At a Cabinet meeting Monday, Lee instructed relevant ministries to "prepare for a phased implementation of existing inter-Korean agreements, starting with those that are possible." He also chaired a National Security Council meeting and emphasized that Ulchi Freedom Shield is defensive in nature, a presidential spokeswoman said. The exercise is meant "to protect the lives and safety of our citizens and is not intended to attack North Korea or escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula." Lee said, according to spokeswoman Kang Yu-jung. Seoul has already made conciliatory gestures since Lee took office in June, such as removing its propaganda loudspeakers from border areas and calling on activists to stop floating balloons carrying anti-Pyongyang leaflets into the North. Half of Ulchi Freedom Shield's 44 planned field training exercises have been rescheduled to next month, with U.S. military officials citing a heatwave and flooding damage to training areas as the primary reasons. Local media have reported that the move is also being made in an effort to avoid provoking the North. A spokesman for Seoul's Defense Ministry said at a briefing on Monday that there were no plans to suspend live-fire drills near the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, which has long been a source of dispute with Pyongyang.
UPI
4 days ago
- Politics
- UPI
On Korea's Liberation Day, a drone show calls for reunification
1 of 9 | At the Korean Dream Hangang Festa, held Friday, drones create an image of soldiers over a caption reading "the pain of division." Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI SEOUL, Aug. 15 (UPI) -- As South Korea commemorated the 80th anniversary of its liberation from Japanese colonial rule on Friday, a festival on the banks of Seoul's Han River called for the unification of the divided Peninsula. The Korean Dream Hangang Festa featured music, fireworks and a show of over 1,200 drones that lit up the night sky with messages of hope for reunification. Former South Korean Prime Minister Chung Un-chan led the organizing committee for the event, which carried the theme "Beyond the Miracle on the Han River, to National Harmony and a Unified Korea." "This is not a festival -- it is the starting point of a meaningful journey toward the epochal ideal of the Korean dream," Chung said in opening remarks Friday. The Aug. 15 anniversary not only marks Korean liberation, Chung noted, but also the beginning of the division between the two Koreas. "We stand at a crucial turning point," Chung said. "The Korean dream is a vision that transcends a history of division and conflict, building a new narrative of reconciliation and shared growth." As evening fell, a swarm of drones created images including the Korean Peninsula, the Korean flag and the modern skyline of Seoul, while spelling out phrases such as "One Korea." Thousands of citizens donated to help fund the event, organizers said, with many sponsoring individual drones. The festival also unveiled a new song, "Korean Dream: Come, O Glorious Light," performed by the quartet Son E Ji U. The event's call for unification comes during a low period in inter-Korean relations. In October, North Korea revised its Constitution to declare the South a "hostile state" after leader Kim Jong Un called for the rejection of the long-held official goal of reunification. Earlier on Friday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung made a pitch for improved ties with the North, saying in his Liberation Day address that Seoul has "respect" for North Korea's political system and would not seek "unification by absorption." Pyongyang has continued to rebuff Seoul's recent overtures, however. On Thursday, Kim Yo Jong, the powerful sister of the North Korean leader, called the efforts at reconciliation a "pipedream."
UPI
12-08-2025
- Health
- UPI
Study: AI programs might help ER overcrowding in hospitals
New York researchers said artificial intelligence programs can help doctors and nurses predict hours earlier which ER patients will likely require hospital admission. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo Artificial intelligence programs can help doctors and nurses predict hours earlier which ER patients will likely require hospital admission, a new study says. An AI program trained on nearly 2 million patient visits became slightly more accurate than ER nurses in predicting which patients would need to be admitted, according to findings published Aug. 11 in the journal Mayo Clinic Proceedings: Digital Health. If this approach proves successful, it could help reduce overcrowding in hospital emergency departments, researchers say. "Emergency department overcrowding and boarding have become a national crisis, affecting everything from patient outcomes to financial performance," said lead researcher Jonathan Nover, vice president of nursing and emergency services at Mount Sinai Health System in New York City. "Industries like airlines and hotels use bookings to forecast demand and plan. In the ED, we don't have reservations," he continued in a news release. "Could you imagine airlines and hotels without reservations, solely forecasting and planning from historical trends? Welcome to health care." Up to 35% of ER patients who require admission wind up spending four or more hours biding their time in spare rooms or busy hallways awaiting a bed, a practice known as "boarding," according to a recent study in the journal Health Affairs. Worse, nearly 5% of patients wait a full day for a bed during the busy winter months, the earlier study found. "Our goal was to see if AI combined with input from our nurses could help hasten admission planning, a reservation of sorts," Nover said. "We developed a tool to forecast admissions needs before an order is placed, offering insights that could fundamentally improve how hospitals manage patient flow, leading to better outcomes." For the project, researchers trained the AI on more than 1.8 million ER visits that had occurred between 2019 and 2023. "By training the algorithm on more than a million patient visits, we aimed to capture meaningful patterns that could help anticipate admissions earlier than traditional methods," co-senior researcher Dr. Eyal Klang, chief of generative AI at the Icahn School of Medicine at Mount Sinai, said in a news release. The team then put the AI up against a cadre of more than 500 ER nurses in evaluating nearly 47,000 patient visits that occurred in September and October 2024 at six emergency departments in the Mount Sinai Health System. The nurses were asked to judge whether a patient would need hospital admission, after performing a quick triage. Researchers also fed the triage results to the AI, to see what it would predict. The nurses proved about 81% accurate in predicting which patients would need hospital admission, compared to 85% accuracy from the AI. "We were encouraged to see that AI could stand on its own in making complex predictions," co-senior researcher Robert Freeman, chief digital transformation officer at Mount Sinai Health System, said in a news release. "But just as important, this study highlights the vital role of our nurses -- more than 500 participated directly -- demonstrating how human expertise and machine learning can work hand in hand to reimagine care delivery." Researchers next plan to implement their AI into real-time workflows and monitor how the program affects boarding times and patient flow through the ER. "This tool isn't about replacing clinicians; it's about supporting them. By predicting admissions earlier, we can give care teams the time they need to plan, coordinate, and ultimately provide better, more compassionate care," Freeman said. "It's inspiring to see AI emerge not as a futuristic idea, but as a practical, real-world solution shaped by the people delivering care every day." More information The American College of Emergency Physicians has more on ER boarding and crowding. Copyright © 2025 HealthDay. All rights reserved.
UPI
05-08-2025
- Politics
- UPI
North Korea does not respond to Seoul's repatriation plan by deadline
Pyongyang did not respond to Seoul's plan to repatriate the remains of a North Korean national through the truce village of Panmunjom in the DMZ, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Tuesday. The ministry said it would conduct a "respectful funeral" for the unclaimed body. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo SEOUL, Aug. 5 (UPI) -- Pyongyang did not respond to Seoul's plan to repatriate the remains of a North Korean national discovered on the southern side of the inter-Korean border, South Korea's Unification Ministry said Tuesday. Last week, the ministry announced its plans to transfer the body of the presumed North Korean citizen via the truce village of Panmunjom inside the DMZ. It urged the North to respond by 3 p.m. Tuesday through an inter-Korean hotline that has not been used since April 2023. Since the North failed to reply, authorities will proceed "in accordance with guidelines for handling North Korean bodies," the ministry said in a message to reporters. "The local government will conduct a respectful funeral in accordance with procedures for handling unclaimed bodies," the message said. South Korean authorities found a body believed to be that of a North Korean man on June 21 off the coast of Seongmodo Island in the Yellow Sea. He was born in 1988 and was a farm worker in North Hwanghae Province, the ministry said last week, citing an identification card found on the body. The attempted repatriation was the latest effort by the administration of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung to thaw relations with the North. On Monday, the South Korean military began removing loudspeakers that had been installed along the DMZ to blast anti-Pyongyang messages across the border, a gesture officials called a "practical measure that will help ease tensions." Last month, Seoul repatriated six North Koreans who drifted into southern waters on wooden boats. The North did not respond to any of Seoul's notification efforts regarding the repatriation plan, which were made via the U.S.-led United Nations Command, but sent vessels to the border to retrieve its citizens. The Unification Ministry also recently used a press briefing to request that the North give advance notice before releasing water from a dam across the border. Ministry spokeswoman Chang Yoon-jeong called the public appeal a form of "indirect communication" with Pyongyang. North Korea has rebuffed any efforts at rapprochement, however. Last week, Kim Yo Jong, the influential sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, said that Pyongyang had "no interest" in engaging with Seoul.
UPI
15-07-2025
- Politics
- UPI
America First, Allies Always: securing the Asia-Indo-Pacific together
South Korean marines aim weapons in a landing drill with the United States in Pohang, South Korea, in 2023. The two nations held the amphibious assault exercise for the first time in five years amid a growing threat from North Korea. File Photo by Thomas Maresca/UPI | License Photo July 15 (UPI) -- Editor's note: This speech was presented to the Asia-Pacific Policy Strategy Dialogue, House of Lords, United Kingdom and the UK All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea at the U.K. Parliament on July 1, 2025. It presents a comprehensive strategic vision for United States and allied engagement in the Asia-Indo-Pacific region. Arguing for a paradigm built on "America First, Allies Always," the address emphasizes that alliances are the United States' and its partners' asymmetric advantage in countering authoritarian threats from the China-Russia-Iran-north Korea axis (CRInK). It calls for rejecting false dichotomies in regional prioritization (for example, Taiwan versus Korea) and instead advancing simultaneous and integrated strategies anchored in deterrence, influence operations, and human rights. Key proposals include the institutionalization of a "Two Plus Three" strategy for the Korean Peninsula (that results in a free and unified Korea), the deployment of Strategic Agility Platforms across the region, and the elevation of human rights as a frontline strategic tool. The speech concludes with a call to avoid the strategic ambiguity of the past and embrace collective defense and moral clarity to prevail in this era of multidomain ideological competition. The entire report from the Center for Asia-Pacific Strategy can be accessed here: Introduction My lords, ladies and distinguished guests -- especially the U.K. All-Party Parliamentary Group on North Korea and its chairs, Lord Alton of Liverpool and Sir Iain Duncan Smith, MP. It is a great honor to speak before this historic body on the future of a region that may well determine the course of the 21st century. The Asia-Indo-Pacific is no longer a distant geopolitical theater. It is the central arena of strategic competition, ideological confrontation and alliance cooperation. Today, I bring a message of unity and resolve: the United States and its allies possess the strategic agility and collective strength to face and overcome multiple simultaneous security challenges in the region. But we must act with clarity. We must act together. We must act now. As a former serving U.S. Army officer, I am no longer constrained by military doctrine, government funding or a chain of command, so I can give you my objective assessment. That said, if I were asked to do so, I would provide this as my best military and national security advice for my country and our allies. Except for those who are actually from or have lived there, there are no experts on North Korea. I am merely a student of one of the most complex strategic challenges we face. Although I may sound like I am speaking with authority based on my years of study and internalization of the problem, the fact is North Korea is a "hard target" and that anything I say can and should be challenged. I come to you with a simple, but powerful, message: Our organizing principle must be: "America First, Allies Always." We possess the strategic agility to manage multiple security challenges in the Asia-Indo-Pacific simultaneously, and we must do so in concert with our allies. Our strength is not only in our forces, but in our friendships. "America First" does not mean America alone. It means "Allies Always" -- because alliances are America's asymmetric advantage. At the same time, alliances are the asymmetric advantage for our allies. The silk web of alliances allows all to punch above their weight. They cannot be matched by any authoritarian bloc. But, let me also add that I know U.S. domestic politics are challenging and frustrating for our allies. I would like to offer that in my many discussions with U.S. officials that there is absolute certainty that allies are critical to U.S. national security, and that every military and civilian professional I have spoken with will advocate for our alliances. I know there are many who would agree with this construct, "Allies First, America Always." I know I certainly do. To overcome these challenges from our domestic politics, my recommendation is to adopt the concept that already exists -- "burden owning." We all must own the burden of our own defense, and then together we can develop alliance strategies to address the mutual threats that face us in the Asia-Indo-Pacific and around the world. Strategic environment in the Asia-Indo-Pacific Let us begin by examining the terrain we are navigating. I use Asia-Indo-Pacific quite deliberately because I do not believe we can neglect Asia in our description. I know the policymakers will argue Asia is within the Indo-Pacific. But Asia is at the center of the Indo-Pacific, and it is where the military, political and economic power reside. Although beyond the scope of this presentation, I would argue that due to the increasing interconnectedness and the shrinking of the globe, we should also always talk in terms of Eurasia. The Asia-Indo-Pacific region today is shaped by the contest among three categories of powers: First, modern nation-state powers, such as the United States, the United Kingdom, Australia, Japan, and South Korea. These states uphold the international system based on individual liberty, liberal democracy, free markets, the rule of law and universal human rights. We have values based alliances and partnerships from the QUAD to AUKUS to the Indo-Pacific Four with NATO. (Australia, New Zealand, Japan and the Republic of Korea). Second, revisionist powers like China and Russia, who seek to reshape that international order to better serve authoritarianism. Third, revolutionary or rogue powers -- North Korea, Iran and violent extremist organizations -- that aim to destroy and replace the existing global order altogether. In actuality, the new descriptor that some scholars are using, the "CRInK" (China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea) might itself be considered the revolutionary power that seeks to destroy the rules based international order that was conceived after World War II. This axis of authoritarians, or Dark Quad as Christopher Ford has named them, are creating crises around the world that challenge the countries who seek stability and security so that all can share in prosperity. Robert Kaplan, in his recent book, Waste Land, describes the current geopolitical challenges and issues best in this excerpt: "This is certainly not a world governed by a rules-based order, as polite gatherings of the global elite like to define it, but rather a world of broad, overlapping areas of tension, raw intimidation and military standoffs. Indeed, there is no night watchman to keep the peace in this brawling, tumultuous world defined by upheaval. "Globalization, which is based on trade, the large-scale movement of people by jet transportation and rapid technological advances in the electronic and digital realms, fits neatly together with a world in permanent crisis. That is because the permanent crisis demands a dense webwork of interactions between crisis zones across the Earth, which globalization produces." The real threat might be what the U.S. intelligence community's Annual Threat Assessment describes as "adversarial cooperation." Although the United States considers China as the "pacing threat," I argue that U.S. alliances and partnerships must recognize and address the larger threat of cooperation, collaboration and collusion among the so-called "CRInK." At the heart of this strategic competition between the "CRInK" and the modern nation-states is an ideological contest. This requires deft use of the diplomatic and informational instruments of power and not only the military and economic tools. The permanent crises Kaplan describes are a result of the conflict between open and closed societies. We should ask ourselves what brings the "CRInK" together and how is it like our alliances? There are four reasons for their cooperation: Fear, weakness, desperation and envy. They fear the strength of our alliances, as despite our current frictions time and again, we have demonstrated the power of alliances. They have inherent weaknesses within their political systems that make them vulnerable -- Putin's weakness is highly visible in his war in Ukraine, his inability to keep Assad in power and the support he is currently unable to provide to Iran. They are desperate for support, particularly Russia and North Korea, as seen in their current military cooperation. Lastly, they envy our alliances. However, they will never share the values and trust that we do, and their relationships can never be more than transactional. This is playing out with Iran who is receiving very little support if any from the members of the "CRInK." There are already cracks in the "CRInK" that we should exploit. These threats require a strategy of comprehensive deterrence, agile response, seizing the initiative, and unified resolve. We cannot fight yesterday's wars. We must prepare for tomorrow's contingencies while addressing the ongoing crises throughout the world. Taiwan and Korea: Not either-or, but both-and There is an unstated policy debate that focuses on the question: If we must choose, is Taiwan or Korea more important to U.S. national security? This is a false choice. The answer is unequivocal: we must prepare to deter war and defend in both. Weakness in one part of the theater invites adventurism in the other. China watches the Korean Peninsula for signals of American resolve. North Korea watches Taiwan for signs of distraction. We cannot afford to let one crisis unravel the deterrence architecture of the other. That is why the United States must optimize its posture across the region. This includes: • Strengthening joint force integration and command relationships in Korea and Japan • Enhancing the rotations of U.S. forces in Australia and the Philippines •- Prepositioning equipment and expanding access agreements with trusted regional partners; and ensuring that all U.S. forces are ready for simultaneous contingencies, not just sequential crises. We must remember that strategic competition is not linear. It is concurrent, multi-domain and ideological. Strategic agility platforms across the region To support this level of preparedness, the United States and its allies must invest in and deploy Strategic Agility Platforms throughout the Asia-Indo-Pacific. These are not merely forward bases or logistics hubs. They are modular, adaptive and resilient platforms -- physical, digital and doctrinal -- that enable rapid projection of power, engagement and influence across contested and uncertain environments. They are built on existing military bases throughout the region but also require development of others in strategic locations throughout the region in concert with our friends, partners and allies. Strategic agility platforms include: • Prepositioned equipment and munitions in dispersed, survivable facilities across Southeast Asia and the Pacific Islands and in Korea, Japan, the Philippines and Australia- • Mobile command and control nodes that can relocate dynamically and maintain operational tempo during cyber or kinetic disruptions • Interoperable logistics and sustainment networks built in cooperation with allies and capable of supporting multi-domain operations from Australia to Korea • Digital infrastructure for defensive and offensive information warfare, enabling coalition-wide influence operations, cyber defense and real-time strategic communications. Underpinning all of this is the absolute requirement for deep investments in integrated missile defense. The purpose of these platforms is to avoid a single point of failure, enhance decision-making speed and ensure our ability to operate from a network of locations rather than a handful of vulnerable bases. SAPs will allow us to impose multiple dilemmas on our adversaries, complicating their targeting calculus, while reinforcing our own flexibility and initiative. In short, strategic agility must be more than a concept. It must be built into our physical infrastructure, our planning assumptions and our alliance integration. The two-plus-three strategy for Korea To address the unique security challenge of the Korean Peninsula, we advocate a two-plus-three strategy. This strategy is founded on two enduring pillars and three transformative components. The first pillar is military deterrence to prevent war. Deterrence remains the most vital national interest of the United States on the peninsula. The permanent stationing of U.S. troops, combined with the Republic of Korea's advanced military, has been the backbone of peace for 70 years. The second pillar is strategic strangulation -- a deliberate use of economic sanctions, law enforcement, diplomatic pressure, cyber defense and cyber offense, and financial actions to cut off North Korea's access to illicit revenue, proliferation networks and international legitimacy. We must target the regime's lifelines, from weapons sales to Iran and Russia, to overseas slave labor and cybercrime. But these two pillars are not enough. The North Korean threat cannot be restrained indefinitely. It must be solved. That is where the three transformative components come in: • A human rights upfront approach. We must put the human rights of the Korean people on every agenda. The regime commits crimes against humanity to stay in power. These abuses are not only moral outrages, but the also are indicators of regime vulnerability. Information about universal human rights is an existential threat to Kim Jong Un. • A comprehensive information and influence campaign. The most dangerous weapon against a closed society is the truth. We must equip the Korean people in the north with the knowledge, tools and networks to organize, communicate and ultimately seek their own destiny. As history shows, regimes built on lies collapse when their people learn the truth. • Support for Korean self-determination. The "Korea question," the unnatural division of the peninsula as described in paragraph 60 of the 1953 Armistice Agreement, must be solved by the Korean people. Our role is not to dictate unification, but to enable it. A free and unified Korea, a United Republic of Korea (U-ROK) is the only path to true denuclearization, permanent peace and justice. While these three components are not new ideas, what makes this transformative is that all three must be combined and prioritized for action in ways that have never been tried. This is a radical departure from the long-held belief that we must be single focused on the nuclear threat. Linking freedom in Taiwan to unity in Korea There is an ideological connection between the defense of Taiwan and the liberation of the Korean people in the north. Both stand as flashpoints between open and closed systems. Both are test cases of our credibility. Taiwan is a thriving democracy facing relentless pressure from Beijing. If Taiwan falls, it will embolden authoritarian regimes everywhere. But a free Taiwan is of little strategic value if, in the same breath, the Korean Peninsula is lost to a combined North Korean and Chinese sphere of influence. That is why our strategy must be whole-of-theater, not piecemeal. As the U.K. understands from its global maritime legacy, freedom of navigation, access to sea lanes and open trading systems depend on regional stability in East Asia and throughout the Asia-Indo-Pacific. Allies as asymmetric advantage Allies are not liabilities. They are our force multipliers, intelligence enhancers, logistics enablers and moral compass. This is why our posture must be anchored in our alliances. And allies gain as much asymmetric advantage from owning their defense burden while operating within a silk web of alliances. Japan's evolving defense policy and closer U.S.-Japan command integration are game-changers. Australia's rotational hosting of U.S. Marines enhances southern theater readiness. AUKUS will boost our strategic capabilities. The Philippines' access agreements expand operational reach. South Korea remains a global pivotal state and a top-tier contributor to the rules-based order and is a partner in the arsenal of democracies. Let us be clear: Authoritarian powers have no real allies. China has client states. Russia has enablers. North Korea has customers. But the free world has partners. That is why we must say: "America First, Allies Always." The moral imperative of human rights As we pursue hard power strategies, we must not neglect the moral dimension. The crimes committed by the Kim family regime are the worst since the Holocaust. Gulags. Starvation. Slave labor. Repression. And our silence is complicity. A human rights upfront approach is not a distraction from security. It is integral to it. As President Reagan said, "A bird cannot fly with only one wing." Military strength must be matched with moral clarity. Human rights are not only a moral imperative; they are a national security issue. The Kim family regime must violate human rights to build its nuclear weapons. The regime derives hard currency from its overseas slave labor. It survives only through the denial of the human rights of the Korean people in the north. By empowering the Korean people with truth, solidarity and hope, we undermine the regime's legitimacy from within. As Gandhi inspired Martin Luther King, and as the American Declaration of Independence inspired Korea's 1919 March 1st movement and Declaration of Independence, so too must we complete the virtuous circle of liberty and unification. I describe a Korean strategy in 12 words: "Unification first, then denuclearization, the path to unification is through human rights." Strategic recommendations To sustain peace and secure freedom in the Asia-Indo-Pacific, I offer these strategic recommendations: • Elevate Korea policy to a strategic priority equal to Taiwan. Simultaneity must replace sequential, or worse, stove-piped or compartmented planning. • Institutionalize the two-plus-three strategy with full alliance coordination. • Expand rotational access and interoperability across Australia, the Philippines and Micronesia. • Restructure U.S. forces for dual-apportioned missions to respond to both Korea and Taiwan. • Fund and empower political warfare capabilities to expose and defeat China's and North Korea's subversion -- China's unrestricted warfare and its "three warfares" and the Kim Family regime's political warfare with Juche characteristics. • Support South Korea's 8.15 Unification Doctrine, which offers the clearest path to resolving the Korean question. • Adopt whole-of-society information campaigns to support human rights, fight censorship and enhance digital resistance and resilience. • Invest in strategic agility platforms to ensure flexible, survivable and scalable operations throughout the Asia-Indo-Pacific. • Sustain the "silk web" of alliances and partnerships from the five bilateral treaty alliances to QUAD and AUKUS and support security arrangements directly among allies. Conclusion Let me close with a historical caution: In 1950, Secretary of State Dean Acheson gave a speech that excluded Korea from America's defense perimeter. Six months later, war broke out. Miscalculation thrives in strategic ambiguity. Today, let us not repeat the Acheson mistake. Let us draw the line of defense boldly, through unity, strength and purpose. Or perhaps we should draw no line at all. The Asia-Indo-Pacific is not America's burden alone. It is the shared responsibility of all free nations. With strategic agility, trusted allies and unshakeable values, we will prevail. America First, Allies Always. Thank you. David Maxwell is a retired U.S. Army Special Forces colonel who has spent more than 30 years in the Asia Pacific region. He specializes in Northeast Asian security affairs and irregular, unconventional and political warfare. He is vice president of the Center for Asia Pacific Strategy and a senior fellow at the Global Peace Foundation. After he retired, he became associate director of the Security Studies Program at Georgetown University. He is on the board of directors of the Committee for Human Rights in North Korea and the OSS Society, and is the editor-at-large for the Small Wars Journal.
