; Whereas the United States and the Republic of Korea have stood alongside each other in the four major wars the United States has fought outside Korea since World War II—in Vietnam, the Persian Gulf, Afghanistan, and Iraq; Whereas Japan is the fourth-largest United States trading partner and together with the United States represents 30 percent of global Gross Domestic Product, and Japanese firms have invested $469,000,000,000 in the United States; Whereas, the economic relationship between the United States and its sixth-largest trading partner, the Republic of Korea, with which we have a free trade agreement, includes 358,000 jobs in the United States that are directly related to exports to the Republic of Korea, and has resulted in more than $40,000,000,000 in investments by Korean firms in the United States; Whereas Japan and the Republic of Korea stand as strong partners of the United States in efforts to ensure maritime security and freedom of navigation, commerce, and overflight and to uphold respect for the rule of law and to oppose the use of coercion, intimidation, or force to change the regional or global status quo, including in the maritime domains of the Indo-Pacific, which are among the busiest waterways in the world; Whereas the United States, Japan, and the Republic of Korea are committed to working together towards a world where the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea (in this preamble referred to as the DPRK ) does not threaten global peace and security with its weapons of mass destruction, missile proliferation, and illicit activities, and where the DPRK respects human rights and its people can live in freedom; Whereas section 211 of the North Korea Sanctions and Policy Enhancement Act of 2016 ( 22 U.S.C. 9231