Vice-presidential candidate Walz notes ties to Korea in campaign debut

Minnesota governor Tim Walz, the running mate of presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, highlighted his personal and familial ties to Korea and his long military service.

U.S. Vice President and Democratic presidential candidate Kamala Harris, left, stands next to her newly chosen vice presidential running mate, Minnesota Gov. Tim Walz, as he speaks during a campaign rally in Pennsylvania on Tuesday. [REUTERS/YONHAP]

Minnesota governor Tim Walz, the running mate of presumptive U.S. Democratic presidential nominee Kamala Harris, highlighted his personal and familial ties to Korea and his long military service.

During their first campaign appearance together in Philadelphia on Tuesday after Walz joined Harris in her campaign against former President Donald Trump of the Republican Party, Walz shared a story about his father, a 1950-53 Korean War veteran, and how his encouragement led Walz to enlist in the military.

"My dad served in the Army during the Korean War, and with his encouragement, at 17, I joined the Army National Guard," Walz said.

"For 24 years, I proudly wore the uniform of this nation. And just as it did for my dad and millions of others, the G.I. Bill gave me a shot at a college education," Walz added. The G.I. Bill refers to programs created to assist American military veterans.

In previous interviews, Walz has frequently discussed his father's influence, explaining that he enlisted to make his father proud.

In an interview with American radio station MPR, Walz recounted how his father took him the day after his 17th birthday to Springview, Nebraska, where they found a lieutenant to swear him into the Nebraska National Guard.

Walz noted that his father, who served during the Korean War, knew he was ill and that the G.I. Bill would fund Walz’s education.

His father died of lung cancer a year after Walz's graduation, leaving the family in a "pretty precarious" situation.

Following his father's guidance, Walz served 24 years in the Army National Guard, primarily focusing on disaster response rather than combat. After the Sept. 11, 2001 attacks, he was deployed to Europe for six months to support the wars in Afghanistan and Iraq.

Walz's political career began in 2006 when he was first elected to the U.S. House of Representatives, winning six consecutive terms. In Congress, he opposed free trade deals with Peru, Panama and Colombia. However, Walz reversed that trend by supporting a deal with South Korea in 2011. The bilateral FTA was first signed in 2007, ratified twice in 2011 by both nations and entered into effect in 2012.

Walz was elected governor of Minnesota in 2018 and re-elected in 2022.

As governor of Minnesota, he traveled to South Korea in 2019, along with Japan, to "highlight Minnesota's long history of engagement with South Korea and future opportunities for economic partnership," including increasing exports of Minnesota-produced agricultural products, medical devices and clean energy products.

Walz is seen as the most left-leaning candidate among the three running-mate finalists — Pennsylvania Gov. Josh Shapiro and Arizona Sen. Mark Kelly — who participated in in-depth interviews with Harris on Sunday.

During his tenure, Walz has championed several progressive policies, including universal free school meals, protection of women's reproductive rights and abortion, strengthening voting rights, tax cuts for the middle class, expanding paid leave and legalizing recreational marijuana. His governance motto has been to make Minnesota "the best state in the country for kids to grow up."

BY SEO JI-EUN [seo.jieun1@joongang.co.kr]