Washington: A White House spokesperson stated Thursday that Asian allies could increase their defense spending similar to their European counterparts, reinforcing expectations that the Trump administration may urge South Korea and other Indo-Pacific allies to take on a larger share of the security responsibilities.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Karoline Leavitt, the spokesperson, highlighted these expectations following an agreement among North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) member states to raise their defense spending target from 2 percent of gross domestic product (GDP) to 5 percent by 2035. "Look, if our allies in Europe and our NATO allies can do it, I think our allies and our friends in the Asia-Pacific region can do it as well," Leavitt remarked during a press briefing, while deferring to the President for specific discussions.
During this week's NATO summit in The Hague, Netherlands, members committed to allocating at least 3.5 percent of their GDP annually for core defense expenditures by 2035. Additionally, they plan to allocate up to 1.5 percent of GDP to protect critical infrastructure, defend networks, and bolster the defense industrial base, among other initiatives.
Earlier this month, Chief Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell noted that South Korea and other Asian allies are also expected to adhere to the "global standard" of spending 5 percent of GDP on defense. Currently, South Korea's defense budget is approximately 61.2 trillion won (US$44.6 billion), accounting for about 2.32 percent of its GDP, according to Seoul's defense ministry.