Issue Transactional US alliance demands and USFK strategic flexibility

Summary

The second Trump administration's transactional, America First approach is increasingly being applied to the Korea-US alliance. Washington is pressing for higher defence cost-sharing and more strategic flexibility for US forces, effectively asking Korea to take more responsibility for defending the peninsula itself. As alliance modernisation exposes the question of USFK's strategic flexibility, the chance of a backlash from China is growing. The report points out that the Taiwan question must be weighed seriously in the modernisation talks. It concludes that Korea needs a fundamental rethinking and redesign of the alliance's future vision and implementation strategy.