US wants Asian allies to spend 5% of GDP on defense - media

The administration of United States President Donald Trump said that its Asian allies, including South Korea, should spend up to 5% of their GDP on national defense. This is reported by UNN with reference to the Korean publication The Dong-a Ilbo.

Details

Pentagon's chief spokesman Sean Parnell stated in a written response to inquiries from The Dong-A Ilbo that the alliance's standards for US allies in Europe and Asia are being reviewed. US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth said at a budget hearing in the Senate on June 18 and at the Shangri-La Dialogue that allies should increase their defense spending to 5% of GDP.

The publication writes that the desire to increase defense budgets could cause controversy, as it might be linked to a potential adjustment of American military presence in South Korea amidst efforts to deter China.

According to the publication's analysts, this message may suggest that South Korea should bear a larger share of its own defense costs to defend against North Korea.

At the Shangri-La Dialogue summit on May 31, Hegseth stated that Asian allies must immediately increase defense spending to counter the real and imminent threat from China. He also stated at a Senate hearing that he expects allies to commit during the NATO summit scheduled for next week to spend 5% of GDP on defense and related investments.

South Korea's defense budget for 2025 is approximately 61.2 trillion Korean won, equivalent to 2.39 percent of its nominal GDP in 2024. To reach the 5% target, defense spending would need to exceed 130 trillion won as early as 2026, potentially leading to cuts in essential programs such as social welfare and education, the publication writes.

Some suggest that President Trump may directly urge South Korea to increase defense spending at the NATO summit, which begins on June 24 in The Hague. The South Korean Presidential Administration is reportedly considering sending President Lee Jae-myung to the summit, amidst efforts to move the South Korea-US summit. A high-ranking Korean official stated that pressure to increase defense spending applies to all allies, and the government is carefully weighing how to respond.

Financial Times reported on Friday that Japan canceled a high-level annual meeting with a key US ally after the Trump administration demanded it spend more on defense.

US Secretary of State Marco Rubio and US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth were expected to meet with their Japanese counterparts on July 1 in Washington for the annual 2+2 security talks.

Tokyo canceled the meeting after the US asked Japan to increase defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product, exceeding an earlier request of 3%, the newspaper reported, citing unnamed sources familiar with the matter.

The Japanese newspaper Nikkei also reported on Saturday that President Donald Trump's administration wants its Asian allies, including Japan, to spend 5% of GDP on defense.

A Japanese Foreign Ministry official, who wished to remain unnamed, told Reuters on Saturday that Japan and the US have never discussed targets of 3.5% or 5% for defense spending. The official also said that they had no information about the FT report.

He said that it is generally difficult to coordinate such quadrilateral meetings, especially since Hegseth is busy with the crisis in the Middle East.

A US official, who wished to remain anonymous, told Reuters that Japan "postponed" the talks in a decision made several weeks ago. The official did not give a reason. A non-governmental source familiar with the issue said they also heard that Japan withdrew from the meeting, but did not hear the reason why.

Japan's withdrawal from the 2+2 meeting comes ahead of the US-led NATO alliance meeting in Europe next week, where Trump is expected to make his demand for European allies to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP.

Addition

Spain is reportedly blocking a new NATO agreement to increase defense spending to 5% of GDP, as demanded by Donald Trump. Spanish Prime Minister Pedro Sanchez considers the commitment "unreasonable and counterproductive," which has angered other alliance members.