A Korean American Senate candidate has vowed to become a “strong” voice to help tackle security challenges on the Korean Peninsula if elected in November, as Pyongyang has been ratcheting up tensions with its recent disclosure of a uranium enrichment facility and continued weapons tests.
Rep. Andy Kim (D-NJ), the Democratic nominee for the Senate, made the remarks, as scores of his supporters gathered in Washington on Wednesday to celebrate Chuseok, the Korean autumn harvest celebration, with Election Day less than seven weeks away.
“I do plan to be a strong national security voice for the United States and the challenges we face on the Korean Peninsula, especially when it comes to North Korea,” Kim told Yonhap News Agency, noting his extensive foreign policy portfolio, including a stint at the White House National Security Council (NSC).
Kim has been leading a formidable campaign for a New Jersey Senate seat — up for grabs as Robert Menendez resigned from it following corruption convictions. The Garden
State has not elected a Republican as its senator since 1972. If elected, he would become the first Korean American member of the Senate.
As a Korean American, Kim underlined one of his election priorities — playing a role as a “bridge” to further enhance the South Korea-U.S. alliance.
“I hope I can be someone that can be a bridge between the U.S. and South Korea, someone that can try to show how beneficial that relationship is to both countries,” he said. “It’s really a win-win.”
In a speech to his backers at the Chuseok reception, Kim highlighted the value of public service that he has held dear to his heart, something he learned from his South Korean immigrant parents.
His father, who was born with polio and was homeless for a good chunk of his childhood, ended up getting a doctor’s degree in genetics in the U.S., while his mother got a nursing degree and served at a hospital in New Jersey — a story he shared to underline his gratitude for America and his family’s history of service.
“(My parents) s
aid service isn’t just a job. It’s a way of life. That is something that they held very close to their heart,” he said.
“They very much believe service isn’t just a job that you have nine to five. It’s about your fundamental relationship and responsibility to the people around you … not just people you know, but everybody.”
Also present at the celebration was Sen. Cory Booker of New Jersey. He pinned hopes on Kim’s role to add diversity to the Senate.
“The U.S. Senate is one of the least diverse bodies that we have representing us. It is a body that I was the fourth black person ever popularly elected in the U.S. history,” he said.
He added American politics needs “more character” and “more kindness” — attributes he cast as “what Kim is about at his core.”
“Americans from every background have shown in wars past, in struggle and strife that we can continue to bend that arc of the moral universe more towards justice,” he said. “So I am overwhelmingly joyous about this candidacy.”
Kim boasts a prominen
t foreign policy career, having served at the NSC, the Pentagon, the State Department, the U.S. Agency for International Development and as a civilian adviser to Gen. David Petraeus and Gen. John Allen in Afghanistan.
Kim earned a political science degree from the University of Chicago. He was awarded a prestigious Rhodes Scholarship and a Harry S. Truman Scholarship, which led him to earn a master’s degree and a doctorate in international relations from the University of Oxford.
Source: Yonhap News Agency
