UNC Deputy Commander Holds UFS26 Media Roundtable (As Delivered)

Moderator: Hello everyone. Thank you for taking the time to join us today. Before we begin, I’d like to briefly go over a few housekeeping items. So today's session marks LTGEN Scott Winter’s first media roundtable with the Korean press since assuming his duties as Deputy Commander of United Nations Command. We hope today's discussion will be helpful for both you and UNC. So today's discussion will focus on UNC's roles and responsibilities during the upcoming Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise. As a reminder, today's discussion is under embargo until next week's joint UFS press briefing. Any questions?

The session will go on about 45 minutes and sequential translation will be provided. We will begin with opening remarks followed by Q&As and then closing remarks.

Sir, the floor is yours.

LTGEN Winter: 안녕하세요. Ladies and gentlemen, good afternoon and thank you so much for this opportunity to engage with you today. It's been around six months since I had the privilege of assuming the role of the Deputy Commander of United Nations Command, so the opportunity to share some of my observations with you today is extremely valuable to me.

You'll have to forgive me when my passion for your beautiful country comes through. My wonderful advisor, Elizabeth, is always amazed that I make my own kimchi while she buys hers on Coupang.

(Elizabeth/보좌관: Sir, I’m going to mention your Kimchijjigae skill, He absolutely loves Korea—so much so that making everything from kimchi stew and soybean paste stew to homemade kimchi and cucumber kimchi.)

LTGEN Winter: So I want to take this opportunity today to provide a little bit of my own background with regards to Korea in order to provide some context for the remarks I’ll make.

First I had the opportunity to come to Korea around 15 years ago as an exercise participant on Ulchi Freedom Guardian.
And from that time, two things struck me straight away. One was what an incredibly rich and vibrant country Korea has become. Because having grown up with the stories of the Korean War, I didn't quite know what to expect.

The second thing that really struck me was that some 70 years on or 65 years on as it must have been then, the continued commitment of the United Nations Command Nations to the defence of Korea.

In subsequent years, I’ve always fought for opportunities to come back myself and importantly create opportunities for other young Australians to visit Korea.

While I'm the only briefer here today, I'm joined by my aide de camp, Lieutenant Robertson, who is the most travelled twenty-something year old anywhere in Korea. And also joined by my military assistant who, prior to this, commanded one of the Australian infantry battalions that famously fought during the Korean War and continues that legacy.

In previous roles, including as the first Australian Division Commander, I was very proud to bring my headquarters into the Freedom Shield exercises.

As a deputy commanding general at U.S. Army Pacific, I worked very closely with the Korean Army on interoperability across our allies and partners. So when General Brunson, who I had the privilege to work alongside previously, asked me to come here, I did not hesitate at taking the opportunity.

So after some thirty-six years in uniform, it's an incredible privilege and the great pinnacle of my career to be here at United Nations Command today. As someone that has lived and fought in coalitions my entire career, I'm extremely passionate about what United Nations Command represents today. (Inaudible) through reflected remarkably diverse group of nations United Nations Command represents. We have countries from Europe, from North and South America, from Southeast Asia, Australasia and Africa, unique in history. And when those nations came together in July 1950, I think they showed the world what is possible when nations act together. So when I look at the global security environment today and some of those unique challenges that we confront, my assessment as a military professional is that alliances and coalitions are more important than ever.

As we prepare for Ulchi Freedom Shield 2026, very privileged that we will be joined by an additional 70 participants from 11 of the United Nations Command Member States. When I look at each of those 70 additional participants, I see myself 15 years ago. So it is both an opportunity for us to work alongside our Korean partners to understand how United Nations Command best fits into the security framework today. But it's equally important for me that each of these 70 additional participants is educated in the beauty of Korean culture and goes home as an ambassador for both Korea and United Nations command.

So again, thank you for this opportunity today. I very much look forward to your questions and to our discussion. Gamsahamnida.

Click to view the full transcript, including the Q&A session, with both English and Hangul Korean-language version available.

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Speeches & Transcripts

UNC Deputy Commander Holds UFS26 Media Roundtable (As Delivered)

United Nations Command