Nominee for Under Secretary of Defense for Policy raises uncertainty over trilateral cooperation

Nominee for U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy, Elbridge Colby, has voiced uncertainty over security cooperation between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan.

During his Senate confirmation hearing on Tuesday, when asked about an Indo-Pacific version of the NATO, he stated that with the political dynamics of Seoul in the past 6 to 8 months, it is unclear whether cooperation can continue.

He added that he isn't against the idea of the multilateral alliance, but is skeptical on whether the alliance would be as ambitious as NATO.

This comes as Colby argued that the U.S. couldn't focus on everything at once, though adding that it wouldn't "want North Korea to take over South Korea."