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UPI
12 hours ago
- Business
- UPI
South Korea says defense spending 'very high' compared to U.S. allies
Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth called for NATO members and Asian allies to increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing in Washington on Wednesday. Photo by Bonnie Cash/UPI | License Photo SEOUL, June 20 (UPI) -- South Korea's Defense Ministry said Friday that its defense spending as a share of gross domestic product is already "very high" compared to other U.S. allies, as Washington calls for NATO members and Asian countries to increase their military budgets. "Among major U.S. allies of the United States, South Korea has a very high ratio of defense spending to GDP," the ministry said in a message to reporters. "We have continuously increased our defense budget in consideration of the serious security situation, including North Korea's nuclear and missile threats." "South Korea will continue to make efforts to secure the capabilities and posture necessary for the defense of the Korean Peninsula and peace and stability in the region," the ministry added. In 2024, South Korea spent $47.6 billion, or 2.6% of GDP, on defense, according to data from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute. That share is higher than Britain's 2.3%, France's 2.1%, Germany's 1.9% and Japan's 1.4%. Seoul's statement suggested concerns over remarks by U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth earlier this week calling for a "new standard" for allies in NATO and Asia to spend 5% of GDP on defense. "We expect NATO allies to commit to spending 5% of GDP on defense or defense-related investment," Hegseth said at a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Wednesday. "We now have a new standard for ally defense spending that all of our allies around the world, including in Asia, should move to," Hegseth said. "It's only fair that our allies and partners do their part. We cannot want their security more than they do." Hegseth also called for Asian countries to increase their spending in remarks at a defense forum in Singapore last month. "It doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to [spend 5% of GDP] while key allies in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea," he said at the annual Shangri-La Dialogue. The defense spending issue looks to be a potentially contentious topic at next week's NATO Summit in The Hague. NATO countries committed to a goal of 2% of GDP in 2014, which two-thirds have reached, but U.S. President Donald Trump has long called for an increase and has been demanding the 5% figure since his reelection. NATO Secretary General Mark Rutte said last week he expected the allies to agree to the 5% target. "It will be a NATO-wide commitment and a defining moment for the alliance," he said in a speech at Chatham House in London. However, Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez pushed back on the proposal, which must be agreed to unanimously, in a letter to Rutte this week. "For Spain, committing to a 5% target would not only be unreasonable, but also counterproductive," Sanchez wrote Thursday, according to El Pais. "It would move Spain away from optimal spending and would hinder the EU's efforts to strengthen its security and defense ecosystem." South Korea's newly elected President Lee Jae Myung has not confirmed whether he will attend the NATO Summit, which will be held on June 24-25. His office had anticipated a meeting with Trump on the sidelines of last week's Group of Seven meeting to discuss tariffs and defense cost-sharing issues, but the U.S. president departed early.
Korea Herald
16 hours ago
- Business
- Korea Herald
South Korea says defense spending against GDP already ‘very high'
South Korea's Defense Ministry on Friday hinted at concerns over an announcement by the Donald Trump administration that its Asian allies are subject to the 'new standard' of spending 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense. South Korea's defense spending, which stands at some 51.2 trillion won ($37.5 billion) or 2.32 percent of its GDP, is already 'very high,' the ministry noted in a statement. "Among key US allies, South Korea is one of the countries that has an extremely high defense spending to GDP ratio," the ministry said in a statement. "We have continuously hiked our defense spending in consideration of our serious security situation involving North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.' South Korea will continue its efforts to maintain necessary capabilities and posture for the defense of the Korean Peninsula as well as regional peace and stability, the ministry said. Seoul's statement follows remarks made earlier this week by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, regarding a 'new standard' now in place for all US allies' defense spending, 'including in Asia.' Hegseth's remarks, made during a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee, are aligned with US President Donald Trump's call for NATO members to increase their defense spending to 5 percent of their GDP. This is more than double the 2 percent defense spending guideline agreed upon by the leaders of the trans-Atlantic alliance in 2014. Last month, Hegseth, during the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum held in Singapore, said that it 'doesn't make sense' for key US allies in Asia to 'spend less on defense' than countries in Europe, despite dealing with 'more formidable threats,' including North Korea provocations. Concerns are rising in South Korea over reports that Trump may shore up South Korea's defense spending while the US adjusts the role and reduces the size of the US Forces Korea. A May report by The Wall Street Journal claimed that the Trump administration is mulling the option of pulling some 4,500 personnel out of the 28,500-strong USFK and relocating them to other locations in the Indo-Pacific region. Last month, Hegseth directed Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby to draw up a US national defense strategy that focuses on burden sharing with allies as the nation navigates to deter threats from China. More than doubling defense spending would deal a heavy blow to South Korea, as it would cost Seoul over 100 trillion won to meet the 'new standards' suggested by the Trump administration. An expert pointed out that it would require the government to significantly reduce other budgets allocated to areas, including welfare, to uphold such a scenario. 'It won't be an easy process for Seoul as it would be required to cut back budgets set aside for other matters, including welfare, and funnel (the funds) into defense spending if the 5 percent of GDP rule is applied,' said Yang Uk, a research fellow at Asan Institute for Policy Studies. Observers say that if South Korean President Lee Jae Myung decides to participate in the upcoming NATO summit scheduled for June 24-25 in the Netherlands, an opportunity might arise to discuss the defense cost issue with Trump. However, the presidential office here has yet to confirm whether Lee will attend the summit, as of press time, but said the previous day that it is coordinating the details of a potential summit with Trump. First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo said in a Friday interview with Yonhap News TV that 'the current situation where the US has been requesting several countries to shore up their defense costs is true.' He vowed to review the matter in detail and continue 'close negotiations' with Washington.
Korea Herald
a day ago
- Business
- Korea Herald
'Standard' of 5% GDP defense spending applies to S. Korea, Asian allies: Pentagon
The Pentagon said Thursday that South Korea and other Asian allies are also subject to the "global standard" of spending 5 percent of gross domestic product on defense, a proposal that US President Donald Trump has put forward for European allies Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell made the remarks, a day after Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing that there is now a "new standard for allied defense spending that all of our allies around the world, including in Asia, should move to." South Korea's defense spending last year stood at around 2.8 percent of its GDP. "As Secretary Hegseth said today and at Shangri-La, our European allies are now setting the global standard for our alliances, especially in Asia, which is 5 percent of GDP spending on defense," Parnell said in response to a question from Yonhap News Agency. "Given the enormous military buildup of China as well as North Korea's ongoing nuclear and missile developments, it is only common sense for Asia-Pacific allies to move rapidly to match Europe's pace and level of defense spending." He added, "It is common sense because it is in our Asia-Pacific allies' own security interests, and in that of the American people's to have more balanced and fairer alliance burden-sharing with our Asian allies. And common sense is what President Trump's approach is all about." Asked to confirm if the global standard applies to South Korea as well, a Pentagon official said that he believes that interpretation was "correct." During the Shangri-La Dialogue, an annual defense forum in Singapore last month, Hegseth made an emphatic call for Indo-Pacific allies to bolster their defense spending. "It doesn't make sense for countries in Europe to do that, while key allies and partners in Asia spend less on defense in the face of an even more formidable threat, not to mention North Korea," he said during the forum. The remarks came amid speculation that Trump might call for a rise in South Korea's defense expenditures or its share of the cost for stationing the 28,500-strong US Forces Korea. The standard for the allies' defense spending comes as Hegseth has called for allies and partners to strengthen their own defense capabilities in the face of various challenges, including North Korea's nuclear program, while the Trump administration seeks to focus on countering the "pacing threat" from an assertive China. Last month, Hegseth tasked Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby to draw up the 2025 National Defense Strategy to prioritize increased "burden-sharing" with allies and efforts to deter Chinese threats in the Indo-Pacific. The Pentagon chief directed that a final NDS draft be provided to him no later than Aug. 31. (Yonhap)
The Hill
2 days ago
- Politics
- The Hill
Dem Senator: More Likely Than NOT That Trump Might AUTHORIZE Strike In IRAN
Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth's testified before the Senate Armed Services Committee Wednesday. A key matter for discussion was President Trump's pending decision whether to engage in military action against Iran in support of Israel. As Washington correspondent Joe Khalil observes, Hegseth did not offer any public indication which way the White House might be leaning as events develop. But one Democratic senator told NewsNation he believes a strike by the U.S. is more likely than not.
Yomiuri Shimbun
2 days ago
- Politics
- Yomiuri Shimbun
Hegseth Says the Pentagon Has Given Trump Options for Israel-Iran Conflict
The Associated Press Department of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth testifies before a Senate Armed Services Committee hearing on Capitol Hill in Washington, Wednesday, June 18, 2025. WASHINGTON (AP) — Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth told lawmakers Wednesday that the Pentagon was providing options to President Donald Trump as he decides next steps on Iran but would not say whether the military was planning to assist with Israeli strikes, an action that could risk dragging America into a wider war in the Middle East. Hegseth was on Capitol Hill for the last of a series of combative hearings before lawmakers, who have pressed him on everything from a ban on transgender troops to his use of a Signal chat to share sensitive military plans earlier this year. In questioning before the Senate Armed Services Committee, Hegseth said 'maximum force protection' was being provided for U.S. troops in the Middle East and that it is Trump's decision whether to provide Israel a 'bunker buster' bomb to strike at the core of Iran's nuclear program, which would require U.S. pilots flying a B-2 stealth bomber. He would not indicate what the U.S. may do next. 'They should have made a deal. President Trump's word means something — the world understands that,' Hegseth said of Trump pressing Iran to agree to a deal during U.S. talks over Tehran's rapidly developing nuclear program. 'And at the Defense Department, our job is to stand ready and prepared with options. And that's precisely what we're doing,' Hegseth said. Options for Israel Hegseth said the U.S. military was readying options for Trump, noting that it's his job to provide the president with options and what the ramifications could be. Trump would not say Wednesday whether he has decided to order a U.S. strike on Iran, a move that Tehran warned anew would be greeted with stiff retaliation. Israel has struck multiple Iranian nuclear facilities in the past several days, but one of its key uranium production sites, Fordo, requires the deep penetrating munition from the U.S. 'I may do it, I may not do it,' Trump told reporters at the White House. 'I mean, nobody knows what I'm going to do.' Democratic senators urged caution. Sen. Jack Reed of Rhode Island, the committee's ranking Democrat, warned that 'the Trump administration must take urgent steps to prevent a wider war.' He said Israel launching the attack on Iran against 'against the urging of the president threatens the stability of the entire region and the safety of American stationed there.' The U.S. has shifted significant numbers of refueling tanker and fighter aircraft to position them to be able to respond to the escalating conflict, such as by supporting possible evacuations or conducting airstrikes. Hegseth said this week that was done to protect U.S. personnel and airbases. Troops being sent to Los Angeles protests Hegseth's testimony last week in three congressional hearings also was taken over by events, with the Trump administration dispatching the National Guard and 700 active-duty Marines to the protests in Los Angeles against California Gov. Gavin Newsom's wishes. Hegseth was repeatedly questioned on whether the California deployment was just the beginning of wider use of the military at home. Hegseth would not directly say whether he had authorized troops to conduct arrests of civilians or use lethal force against them, instead, as he has in past hearings, redirecting the issue to immigration agents facing violent protesters. He would also not answer questions on whether the Pentagon has the authority to expand the deployment of troops to other cities. 'I take it from your answer that you do have contingency plans for the use of military in other cities,' Sen. Richard Blumenthal, D-Conn., pressed. 'We have never and will not illegally deploy troops,' Hegseth said. 'All have been under existing and well-established authorities.' Last week, a district court ordered Trump to return control of the guard to Newsom. But the administration quickly appealed, and a three-judge appellate panel temporarily paused that order and appeared inclined to return that power to the president. Questions on DEI, the renaming of bases Hegseth has dedicated much of the early part of his tenure to social issues, such as eradicating diversity and equity influence from the military — to the extent that he has pursued restoring base names back to their Confederate origins and renaming warships that were honoring civil rights icons. For example, Hegseth directed the renaming of a Navy ship that had honored Harvey Milk, a slain gay rights activist who served as a sailor during the Korean War. He also has touted other moves to eliminate diversity, equity and inclusion programs and said a ban on transgender troops was a way to regain the 'warrior ethos.' Hegseth was challenged on why the Pentagon has worked to find names similar to those of the Confederate officers the bases originally honored. For example, Virginia's Fort Lee, named for Confederate Gen. Robert E. Lee, was renamed during the Biden administration to Fort Gregg-Adams, honoring two Black officers — Lt. Gen. Arthur Gregg, the first African American to serve as a three-star, and Lt. Col. Charity Adams, the highest-ranking Black woman of World War II. The Pentagon announced Monday that the name Lee has been restored, now honoring Army Pvt. Fitz Lee, a Buffalo Soldier and Medal of Honor recipient. The Buffalo Soldiers were an all-Black Army unit. The surviving members of the Gregg and Adams families were not contacted by Hegseth's office prior to the announcement that their names would be removed, said Sen. Tim Kaine, a Virginia Democrat. 'This was never about the names of the bases they were renamed to,' Hegseth said. 'It was about restoring all bases to their original names.' In the previous hearings — where Hegseth appeared to discuss the Pentagon's spending plan — lawmakers made it clear they were unhappy that he has not provided full details on the administration's first proposed defense budget.
