Seoul, South Korea – U.S. Senate Majority Leader Chuck Schumer (D-NY) and the bipartisan Congressional delegation met with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Wednesday, October 11^th in Seoul. Leader Schumer released the following statement after he led the delegation in discussing key ways to strengthen the U.S.-Korea bilateral relationship and promote shared security, economic, and democratic priorities:

“South Korea is one of the strongest economic and strategic allies of the United States, and after previous administrations raised doubts about the U.S. commitment to South Korea’s security, the members of the delegation reaffirmed to President Yoon the strong bipartisan support for mutual-defense against North Korea. We also discussed the threat of the Russia-North Korea alliance and the need for the international community to continue to support the Ukrainian people’s fight against Vladimir Putin’s immoral invasion.

“I urged President Yoon to continue to stand with the Israeli people and do all he can to join the United States by supporting Israel’s effort to defend itself. In my meeting with President Yoon, I described the gruesome details of the atrocities committed by Hamas terrorists who butchered innocent civilians. I saw he was moved by the horrors and President Yoon affirmed South Korea’s commitment to Israel’s security.

“A common issue among all the members of the delegation is the need to address the fentanyl crisis. We urged President Yoon to work with the United States to identify and halt the flow of fentanyl precursor chemicals from China to Mexico. We were heartened by President Yoon’s desire to continue to help and his steadfast commitment to working with the United States to fight the fentanyl crisis.”

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