▲ U.S. Indo-Pacific Command Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo Jr. speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at the Capitol in Washington on April 10, 2025, in this photo captured from the committee's website. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)
▲ U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson speaks during a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing at the Capitol in Washington on April 10, 2025, in this photo captured from the committee's website. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Congress-Indo-Pacific hearings

Indo-Pacific, USFK commanders to attend Senate, House hearings amid Iran war concerns

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, April 15 (Yonhap) -- Top U.S. commanders in the Indo-Pacific will attend Senate and House committee hearings at the Capitol in Washington next week, Congress's website showed Wednesday, amid concerns that the U.S.-Israeli war against Iran could affect America's focus on countering threats from China and North Korea.

Adm. Samuel Paparo, the commander of U.S. Indo-Pacific Command, and U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson will testify before the Senate and House Armed Services Committees on Tuesday and Wednesday, respectively, to discuss the U.S. military posture and security challenges in the region.

The hearings will follow reports that Washington has moved parts of its THAAD missile defense system in South Korea toward the Middle East, and has dispatched thousands of U.S. Marines from the 31st Marine Expeditionary Unit in Japan to the volatile region.

The reports came as concerns lingered that the Middle East conflict could weaken the U.S. military's focus on addressing the "pacing challenge" from an increasingly assertive China and tackling advancing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea.

Last month, Michael Duffey, undersecretary of defense for acquisition and sustainment, said that "flexibility" in redeploying military assets to meet urgent needs across the world is a "tremendous" strength of a U.S. defense system, while commenting on the reported redeployment of part of the THAAD system from South Korea.

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