Sen. Warner meets with the Korean community

In a meeting with the Korean community in Annandale April 22, Sen. Mark Warner (D-Va.) spoke about issues ranging from the need to support local businesses to the reunification of Korea.

Warner said he supports initiatives to help small businesses gain access to capital, increased investments in education and affordable housing, and efforts to crack down on hate crimes against Asians.

A key issue for Warner is the need to help first-time homebuyers. He co-sponsored the Low-Income First Time Homebuyers Act to help people build wealth more rapidly. The legislation would support low fixed-rate 20-year mortgages for lower-income, first-generation homebuyers.

“We’re seeing an evolution in the Korean community,” Warner told the group, noting more Korean political leaders are emerging. “I encourage people to get involved and run for office.”

More than two dozen Korean leaders and businesspeople attended the meeting, along with Korean media outlets, at Café V on Little River Turnpike.

The meeting and a luncheon at 9292 Korean BBQ was hosted by the Korean American Association of Greater Washington, a Gold Sponsor of the Taste of Annandale. The association’s president, Steve Lee, a candidate for Mason supervisor, presented Warner with a pin reflecting the community’s hope for the reunification of North and South Korea.  

Warner said he hopes that will eventually happen, but noted that any attempts to engage with North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un have been unsuccessful.

As the chair of the Senate Select Committee on Intelligence, Warner said, “We are monitoring North Korea as much as we can.” He said Jim Jong Un “sets off another missile every few months if he feels he isn’t getting enough attention.”

The reunification of families is also a major issue. Warner called Kim Jong Un cruel for refusing to reunite aging North Koreans with their relatives in the South. “They don’t play by the same rules. They hold some of these families hostage for political purposes.”

When asked about the threat from China to the national security of the Republic of Korea, Warner said, “We have to redefine national security in 2023. It is not simply who has the most tanks and guns. It is really going to be who is the most successful in technology.”

He called for a “broad coalition of democracies” across Asia and Europe to counter the threat from China and hold the Chinese government accountable.