U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth has praised South Korea’s plans to raise its military spending, saying the Asian ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean threats. His comments followed an annual security meeting between the allies on Tuesday. Modernizing their decades-long alliance is a key issue between the U.S. and South Korea, as the U.S. apparently wants South Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can focus more on China. But Hegseth and South Korea’s defense minister didn’t issue a joint statement after the meeting, leaving the details of their agreements unclear.
