Hegseth applauds South Korea's plan to take larger role in defense against North Korean aggression

U.S. Pentagon main Pete Hegseth connected Tuesday lauded South Korea's plans to boost its subject spending and instrumentality connected a larger relation successful defending itself from North Korea's aggression.

The U.S. has wanted South Korea to summation its accepted defence capabilities truthful that Washington tin halfway its attraction connected China.

Hegseth spoke to reporters aft yearly information talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back successful Seoul, wherever helium said helium was "greatly encouraged" by Seoul's committedness to raising defence spending and making greater investments successful its ain subject capabilities.

He said the 2 allies agreed that the investments would boost South Korea's quality to pb its accepted deterrence against its bluish foe.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, looks connected arsenic South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, right, speaks during a associated property league pursuing the 57th Security Consultative Meeting astatine the Defense Ministry successful Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP)

South Korean President Lee Jae Myung, successful a code to parliament Tuesday, asked lawmakers to o.k. an 8.2% summation successful defence spending adjacent year. The president said the summation successful spending would assistance modernize the military's weapons systems and trim its reliance connected the U.S.

Hegseth noted defence practice connected repairing and maintaining U.S. warships successful South Korea, stressing that the activities harness South Korea’s shipbuilding capabilities and "ensure our astir lethal capabilities stay acceptable to respond to immoderate crisis."

"We face, arsenic we some acknowledge, a unsafe information environment, but our confederation is stronger than ever," Hegseth said.

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U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, 2nd from left, and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, center, sojourn the Observation Post Ouellette adjacent the borderline colony of Panmunjom, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP)

Hegseth said the South Korea-U.S. confederation is chiefly meant to respond to imaginable North Korean aggression, but different determination threats indispensable besides beryllium addressed.

"There’s nary uncertainty flexibility for determination contingencies is thing we would instrumentality a look at, but we are focused connected lasting by our allies present and ensuring the menace of the [Democratic People's Republic of Korea] is not a menace to the Republic of Korea and surely proceed to widen atomic deterrence arsenic we person before," helium said.

In caller years, the U.S. and South Korea person discussed however to integrate U.S. atomic weapons and South Korean accepted weapons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back for a photograph astatine the 57th Security Consultative Meeting astatine the Defense Ministry successful Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP)

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South Korea has nary atomic weapons, and Ahn denied speculation that it could yet question its ain atomic weapons programme oregon that it is pushing for redeployment of U.S. tactical limb weapons that were removed from South Korea successful the 1990s.

Earlier Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the state detected North Korea test-firing astir 10 rounds of artillery toward its occidental waters connected Monday, soon earlier Hegseth arrived astatine an inter-Korean borderline colony with Ahn to statesman his two-day sojourn to South Korea.

Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone connected the borderline with North Korea earlier successful the week.