U.S. Ministry of National Defense Vice Minister for Policy Elbridge Colby will visit Korea and Japan in turn starting on the 25th to review the overall South Korea-U.S. alliance system, the U.S. Ministry of National Defense said on the 24th local time. Vice Minister Colby is a key figure designing defense policy for the Trump administration. The trip is seen as a move to put into full practice in Northeast Asia the peace-through-strength line emphasized by President Trump.
Reuters reported that Vice Minister Colby will stay in Korea from the 25th to the 27th to discuss alliance pending issues with military authorities. He will then move to Japan to continue security cooperation. Colby is the No. 3 senior official at the U.S. Ministry of National Defense overseeing policy formulation and strategy implementation. He is regarded as the core brain who drew the outline of defense strategy in the Trump administration.
The main agenda items of the talks are alliance modernization and defense cost sharing. About 28,500 U.S. troops are currently stationed in Korea. The Korean government increased this year's defense budget by 7.5%, keeping step with U.S. requests. Colby is expected to meet with Korean government officials to focus on ways to update the military alliance along with the issue of increasing defense contributions.
The issue of building nuclear-powered submarines that Korea is pursuing will also be on the table. Korea has hoped to cooperate with the United States to secure its own nuclear submarines. President Trump has signaled support for this plan. During this visit to Korea, Colby is highly likely to coordinate specific implementation measures related to this. In addition, major pending issues such as the transfer of wartime operational control and trilateral security cooperation among South Korea, the United States, and Japan are expected to be addressed across the board.
There will also be a session to explain the newly established U.S. National Defense Strategy. Colby is expected to deliver to the Korean government the military policy direction as a follow-up to the National Security Strategy (NSS) released late last year. In the process, the prevailing view is that a message could emerge that Korea and Japan should take on a larger role to keep China in check.