All Korean Embassy Staff and Nationals Withdrawn from Afghanistan

Biden: "Will Not Repeat Mistakes of Fighting Where There Is No National Interest"

[Image source=AP Yonhap News]

[Asia Economy New York=Correspondents Baek Jong-min and Lee Ji-eun] U.S. President Joe Biden expressed full support for his decision to withdraw U.S. troops and end the war in Afghanistan. He also stated, "I have learned the hard way that there is never a good time to withdraw troops over the past 20 years," and said he does not regret the decision.

In a nationwide address at the White House on the 16th (local time), President Biden said, "The U.S. mission was not to defend Afghanistan but to prevent terrorism." This was the first time Biden spoke publicly since Afghanistan fell to the Islamic militant group Taliban.

On the same day, President Biden acknowledged some responsibility for the situation in Afghanistan deteriorating faster than expected, but he also criticized the Afghan president and government for abandoning their country and fleeing. Biden said, "It is wrong to order U.S. forces to advance in a war even the Afghan army has given up on," adding, "We will not repeat past mistakes of fighting where there is no U.S. national interest."

Meanwhile, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, which decided to temporarily withdraw the embassy the day before, announced on the 17th that the last remaining Korean nationals and embassy staff successfully escaped.

Previously, the rest of the embassy staff entered a third country via U.S. military aircraft simultaneously with the temporary closure of the embassy the day before. Embassy operations are expected to be conducted from the third country for the time being.

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.