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Pentagon’s Colby Pushes Asian Allies to Pull Their Weight in Defense

Colby’s posts underscore Washington’s use of an Aug. 31 National Defense Strategy draft deadline to ramp up talks at the Aug. 25 Trump–Lee summit on allied spending

This Getty Images-AFP photo shows Elbridge Colby, then the nominee for under secretary of defense for policy, attending his confirmation hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee in the Dirksen Senate Office Building on Capitol Hill in Washington on March 4, 2025. (Yonhap)

Overview

  • Under Secretary Elbridge Colby wrote on X that Asian allies must “pull their weight” to build a sustainable collective defense and reject pacifism in favor of “peace through strength.”
  • He reiterated a 5 percent of GDP spending benchmark for defense, highlighting that South Korea currently allocates roughly 2.32 percent to its military.
  • Colby’s messages are linked to the Pentagon’s first draft of its National Defense Strategy, which is due to Secretary Pete Hegseth by Aug. 31.
  • A White House summit between President Trump and South Korean President Lee Jae Myung on Aug. 25 is expected to focus on reinforcing cost-sharing arrangements and expanding US Forces Korea’s strategic flexibility.
  • He emphasized the need to strengthen the defense industrial base to sustain readiness and deter growing Chinese assertiveness in the Indo-Pacific.