SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — The U.S. Secretary of Defense Piet Hegseth praised South Korea’s plans to increase its military spending and said Tuesday that the Asian ally will play a greater role in defending itself against North Korean aggression while allies must brace for ‘regional contingencies’.
Modernization of the decades-long alliance between the US and South Korea is a hot issue between the US and South Korea, as the US apparently wants South Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can focus more on China.
After annual security talks with the South Korean Minister of Defense Ahn Gyu-back in Seoul, Hegseth told reporters he was “strongly encouraged” by Seoul’s commitment to increase defense spending and make greater investments in its own military capabilities. He said the two agreed that the investments would strengthen South Korea’s ability to lead its conventional deterrent against North Korea.
The South Korean president said this in a speech in parliament on Tuesday Lee Jae Myung asked lawmakers to approve an 8.2% increase in defense spending next year, which he said would help modernize the South Korean military’s weapons systems and reduce dependence on the United States.
Hegseth highlighted defense cooperation in repairing and maintaining U.S. warships in South Korea, saying the activities leverage South Korea’s world-class shipbuilding capabilities and “ensure our most lethal capabilities remain ready to respond to any crisis.”
“We face, as we both recognize, a dangerous security environment, but our alliance is stronger than ever,” Hegseth said.
‘No daylight or differences’
Hegseth said the South Korea-US alliance is primarily about dealing with potential North Korean provocationsbut must also keep an eye on other regional threats.
“There is no doubt that flexibility for regional contingencies is something we would want to look at, but we are focused on assisting our allies here and ensuring that the DPRK threat is not a threat to the Republic of Korea and certainly continuing to expand the nuclear deterrent as we have done before,” he said.North Korea stands for Democratic People’s Republic of Korea – the official name of North Korea – while Republic of Korea is the formal name of South Korea.
In recent years, the US and South Korea have discussed how to integrate US nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons in various contingencies. South Korea has no nuclear weapons and falls under the U.S. “nuclear umbrella” security obligation.
Ahn denied speculation that South Korea could eventually aim for his country own nuclear weapons program or calls for the re-deployment of U.S. tactical weapons removed from South Korea in the 1990s. He emphasized that Seoul remains committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.
“Because we cannot have nuclear weapons, a system that integrates U.S. nuclear capabilities and South Korea’s conventional weapons, the CNI (conventional-nuclear integration) framework has been established,” he said.
Hegseth and Ahn did not make a joint statement after the meeting, leaving the details of their agreements unclear. Unusually, the two countries’ defense ministerial discussions end without an immediate joint statement. But Hegseth said there was “no daylight or disagreements” between the two countries, just “a bigger deal that will take a little more time.”
In a separate meeting with Hegseth later Tuesday, Lee reiterated his support for an implementation of an earlier agreement to transfer operational control of wartime Allied forces to a binational command led by a South Korean general. Currently, the commander of the 28,500 troops in wartime South Korea has operational control of allied forces, including the South Korean military.
Lee said assuming greater defense responsibilities on the Korean Peninsula would reduce U.S. military burdens in the region, Lee’s office said. Many South Koreans view regaining operational control of their wartime military as a matter of national sovereignty.
North Korean artillery tests before Hegseth’s arrival
North Korea did not immediately comment on the Hegseth-Ahn meeting.
South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier on Tuesday that they had discovered on Monday that North Korea tested about 10 artillery rounds in its western waters shortly before Hegseth arrived at a inter-Korean border village with Ahn to start his two-day visit to South Korea.
The joint leaders said the North also fired the same number of bullets on Saturday afternoon, ahead of a summit between Lee and Chinese President Xi Jinping, where Lee called for a stronger role of Beijing to convince the North to return to dialogue with Washington and Seoul.
North Korea had expressed irritation over the agenda of the Lee-Xi meeting, ridiculing Seoul for clinging to a “pipe dream” that the North would one day give up its nuclear weapons.
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