Hegseth Praises SKorea's Spending Plans11/04 06:07

   

   SEOUL, South Korea (AP) -- U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised South 
Korea's plans to raise its military spending, saying Tuesday that the Asian 
ally will take a larger role in defending itself from North Korean aggressions 
as the allies must brace for "regional contingencies."

   Modernizing the decades-long alliance between the U.S. and South Korea is a 
hot issue between the U.S. and South Korea, as the U.S. apparently wants South 
Korea to increase its conventional defense capabilities so that Washington can 
focus more on China.

   After annual security talks with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back 
in Seoul, Hegseth told reporters that he was "greatly encouraged" by Seoul's 
commitment to increase defense spending and make greater investments in its own 
military capabilities. He said the two agreed the investments would bolster 
South Korea's ability to lead its conventional deterrence against North Korea.

   In a speech at parliament on Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung 
asked lawmakers to approve an 8.2% increase in defense spending next year, 
which he said would help modernize the South Korean military's weapons systems 
and reduce its reliance on the United States.

   Hegseth highlighted defense cooperation on repairing and maintaining U.S. 
warships in South Korea, saying the activities harness South Korea's 
world-class shipbuilding capabilities and "ensure our most lethal capabilities 
remain ready to respond to any crisis."

   "We face, as we both acknowledge, a dangerous security environment, but our 
alliance is stronger than ever," Hegseth said.

   'No daylight or differences'

   Hegseth said the South Korea-U.S. alliance is primarily aimed at coping with 
potential North Korean provocations, but must also keep other regional threats 
in view.

   "There's no doubt flexibility for regional contingencies is something we 
would take a look at, but we are focused on standing by our allies here and 
ensuring the threat of the DPRK is not a threat to the Republic of Korea and 
certainly continue to extend nuclear deterrence as we have before," he said.

   DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea -- North Korea's 
official name -- while Republic of Korea is South Korea's formal name.

   In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea have been discussing how to 
integrate U.S. nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons in various 
contingencies. South Korea has no nuclear weapons and is under the U.S. 
"nuclear umbrella" security commitment.

   Ahn denied speculation that South Korea could eventually seek its own 
nuclear weapons program or is pushing for redeployment of U.S. tactical weapon 
weapons that were removed from South Korea in the 1990s. He stressed that Seoul 
remains committed to the nuclear non-proliferation treaty.

   "Because we cannot have nuclear weapons, a system integrating U.S. nuclear 
capabilities and South Korea's conventional weapons, the CNI 
(conventional-nuclear integration) framework, has been established," he said.

   Hegseth and Ahn did not issue a joint statement after the meeting, leaving 
the details of their agreements unclear. It's unusual for the two countries' 
defense ministerial talks to end without an immediate joint statement. But 
Hegseth said there was "no daylight or differences" between the two countries, 
only "a bigger deal which takes a little bit more time."

   During a separate meeting with Hegseth later Tuesday, Lee reiterated his 
support of an implementation of a previous agreement to transfer wartime 
operational control of the allied forces to a binational command led by a South 
Korean general. Currently, the commander of the 28,500 troops in South Korea 
has wartime operational control of the allied forces, including the South 
Korean military.

   Lee said South Korea taking greater defense responsibilities on the Korean 
Peninsula would lessen U.S. military burdens in the region, according to Lee's 
office. Many South Koreans view regaining their military's wartime operational 
control as a matter of national sovereignty.

   North Korean artillery tests before Hegseth's arrival

   North Korea didn't immediately comment on the Hegseth-Ahn meeting.

   South Korea's Joint Chiefs of Staff said earlier on Tuesday that it detected 
the North test-firing around 10 rounds of artillery toward its western waters 
on Monday, shortly before Hegseth arrived at an inter-Korean border village 
with Ahn to kick off his two-day visit to South Korea.

   The joint chiefs said the North also fired the same number of rounds 
Saturday afternoon, before a summit between Lee and Chinese President Xi 
Jinping, where Lee called for a stronger role by Beijing to persuade the North 
to return to dialogue with Washington and Seoul.

   North Korea had expressed irritation over the agenda of the Lee-Xi meeting, 
ridiculing Seoul for clinging to a "pipe dream" that the North would one day 
give up its nuclear weapons.