Trump ally says US-South Korea ties in 'marriage counseling,' not divorce

Sen. Dave McCormick (R-Pennsylvania), a close ally of President Donald Trump, compared the current state of US-South Korea relations to "marriage counseling" rather than divorce, saying the alliance is undergoing a "reset" that will ultimately produce a stronger partnership despite inevitable friction along the way.

According to the Hudson Institute, a Washington-based think tank, McCormick made the remarks Friday during a conversation with former Rep. Mike Gallagher, who previously chaired the House Select Committee on the Chinese Communist Party, at an event in Washington.

"We are resetting the relationship," McCormick said. "When you reset a relationship, feelings get hurt and friction occurs."

He drew an analogy to marriage, saying that even in a healthy relationship, one partner sometimes has to tell the other that adjustments are needed. "It's marriage counseling, not divorce," he said of the current state of US-South Korea ties.

McCormick said the United States needs more from its Asian allies, acknowledging that the relationships had been unbalanced. "Our allies recognize that," he said, adding that he believes the two sides "are on the way to a much deeper and stronger relationship."

McCormick recently returned from visits to Japan and South Korea. In South Korea, he toured the Demilitarized Zone and Hanwha Ocean's Geoje shipyard, and met with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul.

He cited large-scale investment pledges to the United States by both South Korea and Japan as prime examples of the alliance rebalancing, saying he heard no complaints during his meetings in Seoul. "The conversation was entirely focused on where to invest that money and how to use it," he said.

McCormick also referenced South Korea's pledge to purchase $25 billion worth of US military equipment and its plans to increase its defense budget. "It's not yet at the level that's needed, but it's moving in the direction of meeting its share of the burden," he said.

McCormick argued that the United States and its allies must innovate faster than China and sustain greater defense production capacity over the long term. "We need to train, plan and fight with our allies as one military force, one military capability," he said.

"If we get this right, China will look across the Taiwan Strait every morning and conclude, 'Not today,'" he said.