The Trump administration's new National Security Strategy, released on December 5, raises questions about South Korea's security and its role in the Indo-Pacific by prioritizing Taiwan defense and omitting North Korean denuclearization goals. The document urges South Korea and Japan to build capabilities to defend the First Island Chain and stresses increased burden-sharing among allies. It reaffirms the U.S. 'America First' principles.
The White House released the 33-page National Security Strategy (NSS) on December 5 (local time). The document outlines President Trump's 'Trump Corollary' to the 1823 Monroe Doctrine to restore U.S. preeminence in the Western Hemisphere and prioritizes defending Taiwan. The omission of North Korean denuclearization has sparked concerns in Seoul about Washington's lowered priority on nuclear diplomacy with Pyongyang.
The NSS pledges to build military capabilities to deny aggression in the First Island Chain (including Japan, Taiwan, and the Philippines) against China, stating, 'The American military cannot, and should not have to, do this alone.' It urges allies to 'step up and spend -- and more importantly do -- much more for collective defense,' specifically calling on South Korea and Japan to increase defense spending focused on deterring adversaries. South Korea has committed to 3.5 percent of GDP for defense, praised by U.S. Under Secretary of Defense Elbridge Colby as the first non-NATO treaty ally to do so.
Experts note that the strategy could dilute South Korea's focus on deterring North Korea and provoke friction with China. Andrew Yeo of the Brookings Institution told Yonhap, 'The Trump administration expects allies, including South Korea, to support deterrence in the First Island Chain, including a Taiwan Strait crisis.' Patrick Cronin of the Hudson Institute suggested the North Korea omission preserves flexibility for a potential Trump-Kim Jong-un summit, adding, 'Implicitly, the strategy emphasizes deterrence and the need to prevent conflict.'
Unlike the 2017 Trump NSS and 2022 Biden NSS, which committed to 'complete, verifiable and irreversible' denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, this version omits it amid alliance modernization efforts where Seoul seeks wartime operational control. The U.S. vows to 'harden and strengthen' its Western Pacific presence, but the future of the 28,500 U.S. Forces Korea remains uncertain. Trump's approval for South Korean nuclear-powered submarines is viewed as leveraging ally contributions against China.
