Seoul’s Bolstered Defense Ambitions
Seoul is heavily investing in its defense capabilities. While the current government emphasizes that the US-South Korea alliance is central for the country’s security, the long-term strategic challenge will be to balance carefully relations with the US, but also with China and other regional actors in an increasingly volatile security environment. Hence, the importance of global partnerships is growing, argue Linda Maduz and Névine Schepers in this CSS Analysis.
South Korea’s (officially the Republic of Korea, ROK) defense developments have been increasingly notorious in recent years given their scale and reach. During the Moon Jae-in presidency (2017–2022), the country’s defense budget increased by an average of seven percent each year, even while actively engaging in inter-Korean diplomacy efforts. The new conservative president, Yoon Suk-yeol, is continuing the commitment to a strong defense posture. Departing from his progressive predecessor, however, he emphasizes Seoul’s alliance with the US as the central axis of its foreign and security policies. This involves a stronger focus on a deterrence- and sanctions-based approach vis-à-vis North Korea (officially the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea, DPRK), resuming and ramping up joint military exercises with the US, and improving ties with Japan.