U.S. Undersecretary of Defense Praises South Korea’s Efforts to Bolster Its Military
I wonder if this a good cop, bad cop dynamic where Colby is the good cop saying nice things to the ROK while Trump is the bad cop making big demands?:
Elbridge Colby, undersecretary of defense for policy, made the remarks on July 31 in a social media post following a phone call between South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.
“South Korea continues to be a role model in its willingness to take more of the lead in a strong defense against the DPRK and in its spending on defense,” Colby wrote on X, formerly Twitter.
DPRK stands for the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, North Korea’s official name.
Colby also said the two allies are “closely aligned on the need to modernize the alliance” in response to shifting regional security dynamics.
Widely regarded as a key architect of Trump’s “America First” strategy in the security domain, Colby has led efforts to push U.S. allies to increase their defense budgets and assume a greater role in collective defense.
You can read more at the link.
I doubt there is any gap. Folks in Korea should have learned to haggle at a young age…