Is South Korea’s Military Power Enough? A Deep Dive into the Debate Over Self-Defense

President Lee Jae-myung’s push for a more independent defense posture has opened a debate over the U.S.-South Korea alliance. After Lee pointed to South Korea’s global military ranking and defense spending to argue the country can bolster its own defenses, the conservative People Power Party intensified its criticism, saying his remarks downplay the North Korean nuclear threat and the regional security alignment of North Korea, China and Russia.

On the 2nd, Jang Dong-hyeok, leader of the People Power Party, wrote on his social media account: “The president says our military ranks fifth in the world and asks why we rely on foreign troops. He seems completely out of touch with reality, so let me explain.”

At a Cabinet meeting earlier, President Lee warned against overreliance on foreign forces, saying, “Excluding U.S. forces stationed here, South Korea’s military ranks fifth in the world, and our annual defense spending is 1.4 times North Korea’s annual gross domestic product. Our forces train well, morale is high, our economy is far stronger, and our defense industry ranks fourth in the world by exports.” He framed those facts as reasons to curb anxiety about dependence on allied forces.

Jang dismissed that argument as an overly simplistic focus on rankings. He said policymakers must first account for the alliances and adversary alignments that shape security on the Korean Peninsula, not just compare numbers on paper.

Jang argued, “Russia, effectively a blood ally of North Korea, ranks second [globally], and China, which would be the first to intervene in a war, ranks third,” adding, “North Korea also has nuclear weapons.” He asked whether South Korea could manage alone without the U.S. alliance, calling the president’s autonomous-defense argument “a simplistic approach that relies solely on military rankings.”

He broadened the debate over U.S. forces in Korea to include economic and conscription impacts. Jang warned, “If signals of U.S. troop withdrawal or alliance weakening materialize, we could see foreign investment flight, higher defense spending and greater conscription burdens on young people,” saying, “To fill a U.S. troop gap, we would have to raise defense spending sharply and extend young people’s mandatory service.”

He pointed to the effect of former U.S. President Donald Trump’s talk of NATO withdrawal, saying that even the suggestion forced European countries to boost defense budgets by as much as 14 percent. “Alliance instability quickly becomes a fiscal burden,” Jang said, directly challenging President Lee: “Defense isn’t secured just because a president talks loudly about it.”