China delegate questions US general's description of South Korea as 'dagger in heart of Asia'

At the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore on Saturday (May 30), a Chinese delegate asked US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth after his spech about a comment the US Forces Korea Commander General Xavier Brunson had made in a podcast, likening South Korea to "the dagger in the heart of Asia".

The delegate asked if that represented the official position of the Trump administration, noting that the comments seem at odds with recent efforts by both Washington and Beijing to improve their ties.

General Brunson, who was in the room, said he was trying to describe the operating environment. "We have to remember that context will always be king and we have to take remarks contextually," he said.

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