SEOUL: South Korea’s president vowed Wednesday to sharply increase defense spending to introduce a variety of high-tech weapons as part of efforts to build a more self-reliant military, as US President Donald Trump’s America-first agenda raises questions about the US security commitment to its Asian ally.
A tariff war instigated by Trump’s administration and his transactional approach to security threaten to erode many South Koreans’ trust in the US.
There are concerns that he may demand much higher South Korean payments for the US military presence in the country or possibly downsize America’s military footprint to focus more on China.
In an Armed Forces Day ceremony Wednesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung described the South Korea-US military alliance as “solid” and didn’t mention any concerns about Trump’s policies. But he repeatedly stressed an intention to build a more independent military that can independently defend the country from external threats.
“We should move toward a strong, self-reliant defense, based on our pride and confidence in our military power,” Lee said. “To ensure peace and prosperity for the Republic of Korea, we must not depend on anyone else but strengthen our own power.”
To boost a self-reliant defense posture, Lee said his government would increase next year’s defense spending by 8.2 percent to introduce advanced weapons systems like AI combat robots, autonomous drones and precision attack and defense missile systems.
The government will also actively foster defense industry and improve soldiers’ welfare by upgrading their service conditions and compensation systems, he said.
Lee, a liberal who espouses greater peace on the Korean Peninsula, didn’t mention rival North Korea, a likely effort not to provoke the country. But bolstering South Korea’s military readiness would clearly be aimed at more effectively deterring potential aggressions from North Korea, which has nuclear weapons.
The North recently has repeatedly rejected Lee’s overtures, though it signaled interests in restoring diplomacy with Trump.
A weakening of the US security commitment could seriously shake South Korea’s security as it has no nuclear weapons and is under the protection of a US “nuclear umbrella,” which has long promised a devastating American response in the event of an attack on its ally. The US also deploys about 28,500 US troops in South Korea.
A potentially sensitive issue for the alliance is an implementation of a previous agreement to transfer wartime operational control of the allied forces to a binational command led by a South Korean general with a US deputy. The commander of the US forces in South Korea currently has wartime operational control of South Korea’s military.
Many South Koreans view reclaiming their own military’s wartime operational control as a matter of national sovereignty but others worry that would result in loosening of the alliance. Some observers say the Trump administration would use the transfer as a way to reduce spending and concentrate on China but it would still want to maintain influence on the Korean Peninsula.
Elbridge Colby, who was confirmed as Trump’s under secretary of defense for policy, said at his Senate confirmation hearings in March that he would carefully review the “delicate issue” of transferring wartime operational control.
“I support efforts to bolster South Korea’s role in the alliance,” he said.
Colby provided more detailed comments in a 2024 interview with Yonhap news agency.
“South Korea is going to have to take primary, essentially overwhelming responsibility for its own self-defense against North Korea because we don’t have a military that can fight North Korea and then be ready to fight China,” he said.
Lee reaffirmed his support of the transfer Wednesday.
“The Republic of Korea will lead a joint defense posture with Washington by regaining the operational control based on firm ROK-US alliance,” Lee said. “Solid combined defense capability and posture will not only bring peace and stability to the Korean Peninsula but also contribute to the region’s stability and shared prosperity.”
South Korea’s president calls for more self-reliant military as questions arise about US commitment
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South Korea’s president calls for more self-reliant military as questions arise about US commitment
- Government to increase next year’s defense spending by 8.2 percent to introduce advanced weapons systems
- A weakening of the US security commitment could seriously shake South Korea’s security
Single ‘digital nation-state’ is not a far-fetched notion, Melania Trump tells UN Security Council
- US first lady argues that AI and global connectivity could reshape education, help reduce conflict and empower children worldwide
- Societies rooted in knowledge foster innovation, tolerance and moral reasoning, while those shaped by ignorance risk disorder and conflict, she says
NEW YORK CITY: The idea of a single digital nation-state is “not so far-fetched,” US First Lady Melania Trump told the UN Security Council on Monday.
She argued that artificial intelligence and global connectivity could reshape education, help reduce conflict and empower children worldwide.
The US holds the rotating presidency of the council for March, and as she presided over its first meeting of the month Trump said technology was erasing borders and creating what she described as a shared intellectual future.
“Perhaps this idea isn’t so far-fetched,” she said, pointing to the rise of digital currencies, blockchain-based payment systems, and AI-driven databases she argued were already transforming media and financial markets.
Trump thanked the US’s fellow council members — the UK, France, Russia, China, Greece, the Democratic Republic of Congo, Denmark, Panama, Liberia, Somalia, Colombia, Pakistan, Bahrain and Latvia — for their role in efforts to maintain international security.
The responsibility for preventing conflict “must be applied evenly and should never be carried out lightly,” she said. Her remarks focused in particular on the role of education as the foundation of peace and stability.
“A nation that makes learning sacred protects its books, its language, its science and its mathematics. It protects its future,” Trump said, arguing that societies rooted in knowledge foster innovation, tolerance and moral reasoning, while those shaped by ignorance risk disorder and conflict.
Education is widely recognized as a fundamental human right, she added, yet many children and young adults around the world remain barred from the chance to attend high school or university. The losses arising from this squandered potential, from potential medical breakthroughs to possible advances in food security and technology, are borne not only by the individual countries involved but by humanity as a whole, she said.
Trump called for the expansion of global access to technology to help bridge the digital divide, noting that about 6 billion people, 70 percent of the world’s population, now use mobile devices and the internet.
“If our nations band together, we can close the technological divide,” she said, describing a world in which a farmer on a remote Greek island, a student in Somalia and a resident of New York City can all tap into centuries of accumulated human knowledge.
AI was democratizing access to information once confined to university libraries, she added, and redefining participation in the global “economy of ideas.”
She continued: “Conflict arises from ignorance. Knowledge creates understanding, replacing fear with peace and unity.”
Trump called on council members to safeguard learning and promote access to higher education, urging them to “build a future generation of leaders who embrace peace through education.”
She added: “The path to peace depends on us taking responsibility to empower our children through education and technology.”
