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| ▲ This photo from U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby's X account shows South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back (L) shaking hands with Colby at the defense ministry on Jan. 26, 2026. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap) |
Colby-Korea visit
Colby recalls 'excellent' talks with Seoul officials on alliance modernization, collective defense
By Song Sang-ho
WASHINGTON, Feb. 10 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby has recounted his recent trip to Seoul, noting that he had "excellent" meetings with South Korean officials to discuss joint efforts to "modernize" the bilateral alliance and strengthen collective defense, among other topics.
In social media posts on Friday, Colby explained his engagement with top security and foreign policy officials in Seoul, including National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac, Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Foreign Minister Cho Hyun, during the trip from Jan. 25-27. South Korea was the first leg of his Asia swing that also took him to Japan.
His trip to the two countries, which he called "vital allies" in America's "priority theater" of Asia, came as Washington calls on allies to bolster their defense spending and take greater security burdens while it seeks to focus on defending the U.S. homeland and the Western Hemisphere and countering Chinese threats.
"It was a pleasure to meet with Foreign Minister Cho Hyun to discuss a wide range of strategic and geopolitical topics in an open and commonsense manner," Colby wrote on X.
"I also had a very constructive meeting with ROK National Security Advisor Wi Sung-Lac. We discussed the pragmatic steps we are taking to modernize our alliance and strengthen our collective defense," he added. ROK is short for South Korea's official name, the Republic of Korea.
During the meeting with Ahn, Colby said that he applauded South Korea's willingness to assume "primary" responsibility for its conventional defense against North Korea as well as its commitment to increasing defense spending. Seoul has committed to increasing its defense spending to 3.5 percent of its gross domestic product.
"We discussed practical ways to deepen our collaboration along these lines," he said of the meeting with Ahn.
Before his trip to Asia, the Pentagon released its new National Defense Strategy, which calls on South Korea to take "primary" responsibility to deter North Korea with "critical, but more limited" U.S. support -- a shift that it says is in line with America's interest in "updating" U.S. force posture on the Korean Peninsula.
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