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North Korea absent from U.S. security strategy as focus pivots to Taiwan, Indo-Pacific

Published: 06 Dec. 2025, 14:28 Updated: 08 Dec. 2025, 14:24

U.S. President Donald Trump attends the draw for the 2026 FIFA World Cup at the Kennedy Center in Washington on Dec. 5. [REUTERS]

In its latest national security strategy, the White House called on South Korea and other allies to increase defense spending but notably made no mention of North Korea.

The 33-page strategy document — released on Friday — stands in contrast to the 2017 strategy issued during U.S. President Donald Trump’s first term in office. That version referenced North Korea 17 times across 68 pages.

The absence of North Korea in this year’s strategic blueprint comes as Washington shifts its focus to countering China and reinforcing military deterrence in the Indo-Pacific, particularly in relation to Taiwan and the so-called first island chain.

The security strategy paper, described as the overarching blueprint for U.S. foreign and security policy, calls for a more assertive stance in the Indo-Pacific and explicitly urges countries like South Korea and Japan to increase defense spending.

“Given President Trump’s insistence on increased burden-sharing from Japan and South Korea, we must urge these countries to increase defense spending, with a focus on the capabilities — including new capabilities — necessary to deter adversaries and protect the first island chain,” it said, referring to the maritime defense line stretching from Kyushu, Japan, to Okinawa, Japan; Taiwan; and the Philippines.

In a related move last month, the joint fact sheet from the Korea-U. S. summit outlined Seoul’s plan to increase its defense budget to 3.5 percent of GDP by 2035, signaling that U.S. pressure on Korea to raise military spending is likely to continue.

The strategy places deterrence of conflict over Taiwan at the center of the United States' Asia policy, affirming that Washington will maintain its longstanding declaratory policy and oppose any unilateral attempts to alter the status quo in the Taiwan Strait.

It stresses that military superiority is essential for deterring conflict across the Strait.

The strategy calls for a renewed diplomatic focus on convincing allies and partners to expand port access and other facility arrangements for U.S. forces, increase their own defense budgets and make sustained investments in deterrence capabilities.

In its Asia section, the document describes the Indo-Pacific as the primary theater of geopolitical competition. “Which means that the Indo-Pacific is already and will continue to be among the next century's key economic and geopolitical battlegrounds,” it stated.

In a preface to the strategy, President Trump reiterated his administration's commitment to “America First” and described the past nine months as a period of rapid restoration of U.S. strength both at home and abroad.

“After four years of weakness, extremism, and deadly failures, my administration has moved with urgency and historic speed to restore American strength at home and abroad,” the president wrote. “We rebuilt our allies and got our allies to contribute more to our common defense — including a historic commitment from NATO countries to raise defense spending from 2 to 5 percent of GDP.”

“In everything we do, we are putting America first,” he added.

This article was originally written in Korean and translated by a bilingual reporter with the help of generative AI tools. It was then edited by a native English-speaking editor. All AI-assisted translations are reviewed and refined by our newsroom.
BY KIM HYUNG-KOO, PARK EUN-JEE [[email protected]]