South Korea pushes back on U.S. call to double defense spending

South Korea on Friday pushed back against U.S. demands to sharply increase its defense budget, saying its current spending is already among the highest relative to GDP for U.S. allies.

“Among key U.S. allies, South Korea is one of the countries that has a high defense spending ratio compared to its GDP,” the Defense Ministry said, according to Yonhap News.

The remarks followed comments from U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who said all U.S. allies should aim to spend 5% of GDP on defense. Pentagon spokesman Sean Parnell said Thursday this figure now represents the “global standard.”

South Korea currently spends 2.32% of GDP on defense, totaling 61.2 trillion won ($44.8 billion) for 2025 — up 3.1% from the previous year. Reaching 5% would mean doubling that figure to 132 trillion won.

Seoul stressed that it has steadily increased its defense spending in response to ongoing threats from North Korea. “We continue to strengthen our defense capabilities amid a stern security environment,” a Foreign Ministry official said.

Roughly 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea. While there have been reports of possible troop withdrawals, Washington has denied any such plans.

President Donald Trump, speaking during his campaign last year, said South Korea would be paying “$10 billion a year” for the U.S. military presence. “We have 40,000 troops in harm’s way, very serious, because you have North Korea’s very serious power. They have tremendous nuclear power,” Trump said.

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