South Korea’s president told Congress on Thursday his country — a onetime beneficiary of U.S. military intervention and significant foreign aid — now stood ready to stand in solidarity with Ukraine and other vulnerable democracies and help them in their hour of need.
As lawmakers, especially Republicans, debate whether the U.S. can afford to provide Ukraine with significant taxpayer largesse — $113 billion in related aid since Russia mounted its full-scale invasion of its smaller neighbor more than a year ago — the president drew unmistakable allusions to the example and rewards accrued from U.S. aid to South Korea decades ago.
So were comparisons to Taiwan, which is facing mounting military threats from its much larger neighbor China.
