▲ Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby steps down from a plane in South Korea in this undated photo from his X account. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

Colby-S Korea

Colby calls S. Korea 'model ally' again for pledging to increase defense spending, take greater defense burden

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Jan. 26 (Yonhap) -- The Pentagon's policy chief has praised South Korea as a "model ally" again for Seoul's pledge to bolster defense spending and take greater responsibility for its own defense, as he is on a trip to the Asian ally this week.

Under Secretary of War for Policy Elbridge Colby made the remarks in a social media post on Sunday (Washington time), while he was in South Korea, the first leg of his two-nation trip that will also take him to Japan, since taking office in April.

"It's a privilege to arrive here in South Korea on my first international trip as Under Secretary of War for Policy," he wrote on X.

"The ROK is a model ally that has committed to meet the global standard of spending 3.5% of GDP on defense and take greater responsibility for its own defense in the context of our alliance, in line with the National Defense Strategy," he added.

ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.

Colby's trip to Asia follows the Pentagon's release on Friday of the new National Defense Strategy, which signals a potential adjustment to U.S. force posture on the Korean Peninsula and stresses allies' "burden sharing" as the Trump administration seeks to focus on deterring Chinese threats.

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