Amid U.S. President Trump’s comments on significantly increasing South Korea’s share of defense costs for U.S. troops stationed there, experts voiced at a U.S. Senate hearing that allies’ security contributions shouldn’t be viewed merely as a funding issue.
Randall Schriver, former Assistant Secretary of Defense for Asian and Pacific Security Affairs, noted at the Senate Foreign Relations Committee hearing on the 26th local time that cost-sharing issues are often overly simplified to a single figure, specifically defense spending as a percentage of GDP. He highlighted that the U.S.’s physical distance from the Indo-Pacific acts as a ‘geographic disadvantage’, benefiting rivals like China, Russia, and North Korea, and stressed the importance of strong alliances to overcome time and distance constraints.
Oriana Skylar Mastro, a scholar at Stanford University’s Freeman Spogli Institute for International Studies, stressed the potential need for South Korea to handle North Korea during a possible conflict with China. She emphasized that South Korea should agree to the U.S.’s strategic flexibility, allowing U.S. forces in South Korea to be utilized for emergencies beyond the Korean Peninsula, particularly those involving China.
Victor Cha, Senior Fellow at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS), remarked on the ability of many allies to take on more of the costs for U.S. troop deployments but cautioned against surprising these allies with sudden changes. He advocated for giving allies the political room to negotiate new burden-sharing agreements, considering their legislatures unlike the U.S.
The discussion also touched on the necessity to consider contributions like support for Ukraine when calculating cost shares and the importance of enhancing allies’ capabilities in preparation for a Taiwan contingency, alongside the evolving role of U.S. forces in Korea.
Schriver reiterated the need for a comprehensive view of cost-sharing, asserting that contributions worthy of recognition should be acknowledged. Mastro pointed out other areas of ally contribution beyond finances, such as military capabilities development, infrastructure investment, and access rights to bases and airspace.
Victor Cha concluded with the notion that dramatically increasing allies’ cost burdens would be unrealistic without considering their non-financial contributions, referencing South Korea’s support to Ukraine. He also emphasized the importance of political agreements to address potential changes in the deployment and support of U.S. forces in the case of opportunistic aggression against Taiwan.
In the opening remarks, Jim Risch, Chairman of the Senate Foreign Relations Committee, highlighted South Korea’s consistent defense spending, exceeding 2% of GDP since the Cold War, and praised its strong defense industry and potential collaboration with the U.S. to strengthen U.S. shipbuilding capabilities.