The Trump administration is set to highlight South Korea and Israel as "model allies" in its forthcoming National Defense Strategy (NDS), Nikkei Asia reported Wednesday from Washington, citing three sources.
According to the report, the NDS, expected to be released within the coming weeks, will praise South Korea and Israel as countries that execute policies as partners rather than nations dependent on the United States. The NDS will serve as a roadmap for the Trump administration's defense strategy.
"The Trump administration initially had doubts about the center-left Lee Jae-myung government," Nikkei noted, adding that "this praise from the Trump administration shows a changed assessment of the Lee government."
At the Korea-US summit held in Gyeongju last October, Seoul pledged to increase defense spending to 3.5% of gross domestic product as quickly as possible under Korean legal requirements, and to expand cooperation in the shipbuilding sector, including investment in US shipyards and maintenance of US naval vessels in Korea.
Elbridge Colby, US Under Secretary of Defense for Policy and the third-ranking Pentagon official drafting the NDS, attended Korea's National Day event in Washington last month and said, "Korea really is a model ally." At the event, he added that "President Lee Jae-myung and Korea are demonstrating effort, resources, seriousness, and commitment through action."
The NDS is expected to be based on four pillars: homeland defense, countering China, defense burden-sharing with allies, and revitalizing the defense industrial base, according to the report.
In contrast, Japan is not expected to receive the model ally designation, Nikkei reported, noting that this issue has emerged at a sensitive time for Japanese Prime Minister Sanae Takaichi. The Wall Street Journal recently reported that President Trump called Prime Minister Takaichi to convey that Japan should not provoke China over the Taiwan issue, as tensions between China and Japan over Taiwan have intensified. Australia, which forms the trilateral AUKUS security alliance with the United States and United Kingdom, also did not receive the model ally designation.
