The second Donald Trump administration released the National Security Strategy (NSS), a blueprint for U.S. diplomatic and military strategy, and urged key allies, including Korea, to increase defense spending. The NSS is the top strategic document on U.S. national security, drafted under the leadership of the White House.
In the 33-page report released on the 5th (local time), the Trump administration specified that President Trump is demanding greater defense cost sharing from allies, including Japan and Korea. The report said, "We must urge these countries to increase defense expenditure."
The report also emphasized the strategic importance of the South China Sea and warned that the potential control of the waters by a hostile power could seriously harm the U.S. economy and interests.
Without naming a specific country, the report noted that "a situation could arise in which a potential adversary imposes tolls on one of the world's most important maritime trade routes, or, further, can arbitrarily open and close the route."
It added that, to prevent this, it is essential not only to strengthen military power centered on U.S. naval forces but also to forge strong cooperation with relevant countries from India to Japan.
The report particularly stressed the need to strengthen the defense capabilities of the "first island chain" (Kyushu–Okinawa–Taiwan–the Philippines), China's maritime defense line and the U.S. containment line against China. This is considered a key pillar of the strategy to constrain China.
Unusually, there was no mention of North Korea in this NSS report. That contrasts with the 2017 NSS during Trump's first term, in which North Korea was mentioned 17 times and labeled a "top priority threat," a "rogue state," and the "greatest danger." The exclusion of North Korea from the report suggests that the U.S. policy toward the North has shifted away from an intervention-focused approach.
Korea was mentioned three times in the report. The United States asked major allies, including Korea, to cooperate in curbing China's excess production capacity. The report said, "Southeast Asia, Latin America, and the Middle East alone cannot absorb China's excess production capacity," and added, "We must steer key countries such as Europe, Japan, Korea, Canada, and Mexico to adopt trade policies that shift the Chinese economy to household consumption."