On the 25th (local time), President Lee Jae-myung stated in a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., that "we will increase our defense budget and develop the military into a smart armed force based on advanced science and technology." He also presented plans for Korea to play a leading role in the security of the Korean Peninsula amidst North Korea's nuclear and missile threats and global supply chain instability, shaping the Korea-U.S. alliance into a 'high-tech alliance.'
In his speech that day, President Lee said, "Korea will take a more proactive role in maintaining security on the Korean Peninsula in the future," adding, "We will increase the defense budget. The additional defense budget will be used to introduce advanced science and technology and assets necessary to cultivate our military into a smart armed force that will surely win in 21st-century future warfare."
The Trump administration has consistently demanded an increase in Korea's defense budget. Our government has not made a clear statement regarding this, but President Lee clarified the intent to increase it in his speech that day. However, he did not mention the specific scale of the increase. In this context, President Trump expressed during the summit his intention to "actively support Korea's efforts to strengthen its defense capabilities and further expand high-tech defense cooperation between the U.S. and Korea."
President Lee stated that while maintaining the goal of denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, he would also pursue dialogue between the North and the South and measures to ease tensions on the Peninsula. He said, "I have decided to closely cooperate with President Trump to establish peace on the Korean Peninsula and to achieve denuclearization. Korea will faithfully adhere to its denuclearization commitment in compliance with the NPT system." He also mentioned, "We will respond strongly to North Korean provocations while also making efforts for dialogue with North Korea."
He added, "Together with President Trump, we will firmly strengthen the U.S.-Korea alliance and closely solidify trilateral cooperation among Korea, the U.S., and Japan," stating that the three countries must respond jointly to the North Korean threat and ensure prosperity in the Indo-Pacific region. President Lee emphasized that the "security and economy of both countries cannot be considered separately," expressing a clear willingness to expand economic and technological cooperation. He noted that through cooperation in advanced industries such as shipbuilding, semiconductors, and AI, the U.S.-Korea alliance would expand into a 'high-tech alliance.'
President Lee also emphasized that Korea is currently in a state where it cannot adopt the stance of Anmi Gyeongjung (安美經中), which translates to relying on the U.S. for security while seeking economic benefits from China and other places. He responded to a question after his speech regarding the perception that "Korea depends on the U.S. for security while obtaining economic benefits from China."
President Lee remarked, "It is true that until the U.S. began its strong containment policy against China, or in harsher terms, a blockade policy, Korea maintained the stance of having security from the U.S. and economic ties with China," adding, "However, over the past few years, the restructuring of supply chains has actively taken place between the free world and those centered around China, and with the U.S. policies clearly directed towards containing China, Korea also finds it impossible to assume the same stance as in the past."
President Lee added, "We are maintaining a level of management of an inevitable relationship arising from being geographically very close to China," stating that "Korea cannot act or make judgments that deviate from the basic policies of the U.S."
◇ It seems to be an increase in 'broadly defined' defense spending, not just burden-sharing costs
According to the Presidential Office, what President Lee and President Donald Trump mentioned at this meeting refers to 'broadly defined' defense spending. Our government interprets the defense spending under the 12th Special Measures Agreement (SMA) signed between the two countries last October as 'narrowly defined.' At that time, Korea finalized the defense spending for next year at 1.5192 trillion won with the Biden administration and signed a special agreement for defense spending that includes increasing it based on the consumer price index increase for the next four years.
In this regard, the Presidential Office stated that there were no discussions related to an increase in burden-sharing costs. National Security Office Director Wi Seon-lak said, "We need to distinguish whether to see the concept of defense narrowly or broadly," classifying the narrow definition as the 12th SMA signed between the two countries and the broad definition as defense spending. He further explained, "To make discussions sophisticated, we must limit ourselves to the SMA; however, the discussion to reopen this and expand it has not occurred until today."