Pentagon to shift North Korea deterrence responsibility primarily to South Korea

The Pentagon plans to delegate more of the responsibility for deterring North Korea to South Korea, it said in an unclassified national defense strategy document released Friday titled “Restoring peace through force for America’s new golden age.”

In the document obtained by Fox News Digital, the Pentagon said the United States would take a “more limited” role in keeping North Korea in line.

“South Korea, with its strong military, strong defense industry and compulsory military service supported by high defense spending, has the capacity to assume primary responsibility for deterring North Korea with critical but more limited US support,” the document said.

The statement said: “South Korea also has a desire to do so, given that it faces a direct and clear threat from North Korea. This shift in the balance of responsibility is consistent with America’s interest in updating the US force posture on the Korean Peninsula. In this way, we can ensure a stronger and mutually beneficial alliance relationship that is more compatible with America’s defense priorities, thus creating the conditions for lasting peace.”

IT WAS ALLEGED THAT IRAN PUBLISHED 97 ‘CORRECTIVE’ CONFESSIONS DURING A RECORD NORTH KOREA-STYLE INTERNET BLOCK.

The new policy plan for North Korea followed similar strategies for other parts of the world; The far-reaching document states that the ministry “will no longer be distracted by interventionism, endless wars, regime change and nation-building. Instead, we will put the practical concrete interests of our people first.”

The policy does not imply “isolation,” but rather a “strategic approach to the threats facing our nation,” the document said.

Further down, he added: “We will insist that our allies and partners do their part and lend a helping hand when they step up.”

The Pentagon on Friday released a declassified national defense strategy document titled “Restoring peace through force for a new golden age of America.” (Daniel Slim/AFP via Getty Images)

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In the section titled “Increase Burden Sharing with U.S. Allies and Partners,” the document states that it plans to deter China “through force, not conflict,” and that “as the Department rightly prioritizes Homeland defense and deterring China, other threats will remain and our allies will be required to deal with all of them. Our allies will do so in their own interests, not as a favor to us.”

The Pentagon document stated that while emphasis was placed on burden sharing with allies in other parts of the world, threats from China would be prioritized. (Sheng Jiapeng/China News Service/VCG via Getty Images)

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Regarding Russia, he stated that the country “will continue to be a persistent but manageable threat to NATO’s eastern members for the foreseeable future,” while regarding Iran, he stated that President Donald Trump has made it clear that Iran will not be allowed to acquire nuclear weapons.

This year, South Korea increased its military budget by 7.5%, while about 28,500 U.S. troops are deployed to defend North Korea.