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| ▲ This file photo, taken May 8, 2024, shows Elbridge Colby speaking during an interview with Yonhap News Agency in Washington. (Yonhap) |
(LEAD) Pentagon nominee-confirmation
(LEAD) Senate confirms Trump's pick for Pentagon policy chief
(ATTN: UPDATES with more info in paras 3, 5-6)
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, April 8 (Yonhap) -- The Senate voted Tuesday to confirm U.S. President Donald Trump's pick for under secretary of defense for policy, a post that could affect the United States' policy on the South Korea-U.S. security partnership.
The upper chamber approved Elbridge Colby for the Pentagon's No. 3 post in a 54-45 vote, according to reports. Colby served as deputy assistant secretary of defense for strategy and force development from 2017-2018 during the first Trump administration.
Colby has been calling for an adjustment of U.S. Forces Korea (USFK)'s role to focus more on threats from China.
During an interview with Yonhap News Agency last year, he noted the need for a USFK overhaul to make it "more relevant" to handling China-related contingencies rather than being held "hostage" to countering North Korean challenges.
During a Senate confirmation hearing last month, Colby threw his support behind efforts to bolster South Korea's role in the alliance with the U.S as he addressed a question over the ongoing efforts for the transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul.
Seoul and Washington have been working on meeting a wide range of conditions needed for the OPCON transition. Conditions include South Korea's capabilities to lead combined forces, its strike and air defense capabilities, and a regional security environment conducive to such a handover.
Colby has also stressed the Seoul-Washington alliance should continue to be updated to "reflect the broader geopolitical and military circumstances" facing the two nations.
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