Army Gen. Xavier Brunson testifies during an Armed Services hearing on Capitol Hill, Sept. 17, 2024, in Washington. [AP/YONHAP]
U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson has said that Korea is a "dagger in the heart of Asia" if seen from China's east coast, a remark that apparently underscored the strategic location of the Asian ally amid an intensifying Sino-U.S. rivalry.
Brunson made the remarks in a recent podcast interview hosted by the U.S. Army War College on Friday, amid lingering speculation that the United States would seek to leverage USFK assets to help deter an increasingly assertive China or address other regional challenges beyond the Korean Peninsula.
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"When [the Chinese] look out from the east coast of China, what they see is there's Korea, the dagger in the heart of Asia," he said, according to a transcript posted on the website of the Strategic Studies Institute at the Army War College.
