On Tuesday, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth praised South Korea’s decision to increase its military budget and assume a more significant role in defending against North Korean threats.

The United States has long advocated for South Korea to strengthen its conventional defense capabilities, allowing Washington to focus more strategically on China.

After conducting annual security discussions in Seoul with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, Hegseth expressed optimism about South Korea’s commitment to enhancing its military investments and spending. He noted that such measures would enhance South Korea’s capacity to steer its conventional deterrence efforts against North Korea.

Both nations concurred that these investments would significantly bolster South Korea’s defense position against northern adversaries.

As captured in a joint press conference, U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth observed alongside South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back during the 57th Security Consultative Meeting held at the Defense Ministry in Seoul on November 4, 2025. (AP)

In a parliamentary address on Tuesday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung urged legislators to endorse an 8.2% hike in defense spending for the coming year. President Lee emphasized that the increased budget is crucial for modernizing the military’s arsenal and reducing dependency on U.S. support.

Hegseth noted defense cooperation on repairing and maintaining U.S. warships in South Korea, stressing that the activities harness South Korea’s 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.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, second from left, and South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back, center, visit the Observation Post Ouellette near the border village of Panmunjom, South Korea, Monday, Nov. 3, 2025. (AP)

Hegseth said the South Korea-U.S. alliance is primarily meant to respond to potential North Korean aggression, but other regional threats must also be addressed.

“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 [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] is not a threat to the Republic of Korea and certainly continue to extend nuclear deterrence as we have before,” he said.

In recent years, the U.S. and South Korea have discussed how to integrate U.S. nuclear weapons and South Korean conventional weapons.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, left, shakes hands with South Korean Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back for a photo at the 57th Security Consultative Meeting at the Defense Ministry in Seoul, South Korea, Tuesday, Nov. 4, 2025. (AP)

South Korea has no nuclear weapons, and Ahn denied speculation that it could eventually seek its own nuclear weapons program or that it is pushing for redeployment of U.S. tactical weapon weapons that were removed from South Korea in the 1990s.

Earlier Tuesday, South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff said the country detected North Korea 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 begin his two-day visit to South Korea.

Hegseth visited the Demilitarized Zone on the border with North Korea earlier in the week.