'New standard' for Asian, other allies' defense spending: Pentagon chief

Recent remarks by the head of the U.S. Defense Department are re-igniting concerns about U.S. commitment to security partnerships with its allies including those here on the peninsula.

Lee Seung-jae has details.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said there will be a "new standard" for defense spending for Asian and other U.S. allies, as the Pentagon chief reiterated U.S. President Donald Trump's call for NATO members to raise defense spending to five percent of GDP.

Speaking to the Senate Armed Services Committee on Wednesday, Hegseth stressed that the U.S. cannot want the allies' security "more than they do."

He also said NATO heads must commit to spending five percent of GDP on defense at the NATO heads of state meeting next week.

The comments from the Pentagon chief come amid speculation that Trump might raise South Korea's defense spending or its share of the cost of stationing U.S. Forces Korea.

Currently, South Korea's defense spending stands at around two-point-five percent of its GDP.

Meanwhile, during a forum hosted by the Center for Strategic and International Studies on Wednesday, U.S. Senator Andy Kim said that the current administration's reported consideration to decrease USFK presence in South Korea is a "perfect" way to derail the Seoul-Washington relationship, especially "at a critically important moment" for the alliance.

The Korean-American senator also stressed that failing to treat U.S. allies and partners differently from adversaries is a "huge" mistake,.. adding that it will cause unnecessary friction.

At the same forum, former deputy secretary of state during the Joe Biden administration, Kurt Campbell warned that any substantial adjustments to the USFK troop level could be "misinterpreted" as a sign of reduced security commitment from Washington.

Campbell warned that any steps that would lower the troop presence in South Korea could lead to a "crisis in confidence."

The Wall Street Journal last month reported that the Pentagon was considering the idea of withdrawing some 45-hundred USFK troops to other locations in the Indo-Pacific to better calibrate U.S. force posture in Korea to deter China.

Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.