SِEOUL: The Pentagon’s number three official hailed South Korea as a “model ally” as he met with local counterparts in Seoul on Monday, days after Washington’s new defense strategy called for reduced support for partners overseas.
Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby arrived in South Korea on Monday and is seen as a key proponent of President Donald Trump’s “America First” foreign policy.
That policy — detailed in Washington’s 2026 National Defense Strategy (NDS) released last week — calls for the United States to prioritize deterring China and for long-standing US allies to take “primary responsibility” for their own defense.
Arriving in Seoul on his first overseas trip as the Pentagon’s number three official, Colby in a post on X called South Korea a “model ally.”
And he praised President Lee Jae Myung’s pledge to spend 3.5 percent of the country’s GDP on the military.
