Elections in America could affect US nuclear umbrella over Seoul
Voice of America
FILE - This image taken from video broadcast by North Korea's KRT shows what it says is a ballistic missile being launched from an undisclosed location in North Korea, Feb. 20, 2023.
A South Korean senior official has rekindled debate over the U.S. commitment to that nation's defense, bringing up the possibility of the U.S. rolling back its nuclear umbrella if former President Donald Trump is reelected. Kim Tae-hyo, South Korea's deputy national security director, said in a Seoul forum Tuesday the reelection of Trump could "weaken a U.S. nuclear umbrella" designed to protect South Korea from North Korean aggression. "Trump as candidate can be seen as pursuing transactional benefits in terms of the South Korea-U.S. alliance," Kim said, according to news reports. "It is not unlikely that he would suggest negotiating defense cost-sharing or the deployment of U.S. strategic assets from a cost perspective."
Pope Francis leaves after leading a holy mass at Tasitolu park in Dili, East Timor, Sept. 10, 2024. Pope Francis holds a news conference aboard the papal plane on his flight back after his 12-day journey across Southeast Asia and Oceania, Sept. 13, 2024. Pope Francis, left, meets with indigenous people at the Holy Trinity Humanistic School in Baro, near Vanimo, Papua New Guinea, Sept. 8, 2024. Pope Francis receives a gift from the Archbishop of Dili Cardinal Virgilio do Carmo da Silva at the end of a votive mass of the Blessed Virgin Mary Queen he presided over in Tasitolu, some 8 kilometers west of Dili, East Timor, Sept. 10, 2024. In this handout photograph taken on Sept. 13, 2024 and released by Vatican Media, Pope Francis (C) takes part in an interreligious meeting with young people at the Catholic Junior College in Singapore.
A police officer inspects the area around a fire after the military said it fired interceptors at a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel, Sept. 15, 2024. A crater is seen after the military fired interceptors at what the Israeli army says is a missile launched from Yemen that landed in central Israel, Sept. 15, 2024.
FILE - A man walks past a sign warning against the sale of illegal publications, underneath which secondhand books, images and statues of Chinese leaders are displayed for sale at the Panjiayuan antique market in Beijing, Aug. 3, 2024. FILE - Busts and statues portraying late Chinese chairman Mao Zedong are seen at the Panjiayuan flea market in Beijing, May 19, 2019.
Iraqis sit at a popular café in the old city of Mosul on Sept. 2, 2024, seven years after the Islamist State (IS) group was ousted from the northern Iraqi city. Iraqis sit at a popular café in the old city of Mosul on Sept. 2, 2024, seven years after the Islamist State (IS) group was ousted from the northern Iraqi city.