South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol hailed the importance of the U.N. Command (UNC) in ensuring regional stability and acting as a barrier to North Korea’s vision of unifying the Korean Peninsula under communism in a meeting with the multinational force’s leadership Thursday.

“(The UNC) protected the free Republic of Korea when the country was in crisis, hanging by a thread and is continuing to play a pivotal role in maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula even after 70 years,” he said, according to a presidential office press release.

Yoon added that the UNC remains critical to the ROK’s defense