On May 30th, during the Shangri-La Dialogue, Wang Dong, a member of the delegation of experts and scholars from the Peoples Liberation Army, questioned Brigadier General James Mattis, the commander of U.S. military forces in South Korea, regarding the claim that South Korea is a dagger directed at China. Brigadier General Mattis did not directly respond to this question, instead arguing that that is teaching military students to think from anothers perspective.
Wang Dong questioned, Does the South Korean dagger theory put forward by the commander of US troops in Korea represent the official position of the Trump administration? Has such a theory been authorized or approved by the Pentagon?
Brunson said, My statement at that time described the strategic situation faced by the United States. Only by putting ourselves in others shoes can we understand how other countries view us. We must remain strong. We must deploy appropriate military forces in South Korea. If there will be more people like me who act as philosophers in uniform in the future, then we will have started a competition in the realm of ideas.
