S.Korea’s Lee signals end to ‘security with US, economy with China’ policy; to hike defense costs
His speech at the CSIS shows that Seoul intends to align itself with Washington for long-term security and economic resilience, ditching a precarious balancing act
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., on Aug. 25, 2025
WASHINGTON, D.C. – South Korean President Lee Jae Myung said on Monday that Seoul can no longer maintain its decades-old strategy of relying on Washington for security while deepening economic ties with Beijing, signaling a significant shift in the country’s foreign policy at a time of intensifying US-China rivalry.
Speaking at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C., Lee said, “It is true that Korea has pursued a position of security with the US and economy with China in the past. But we are no longer in a situation where such an attitude is possible.”
His comments are the clearest break yet from Seoul’s balancing diplomacy, which his predecessors have sought to preserve as competition between Washington and Beijing has intensified.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung delivers a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) in Washington, D.C. Lee cited “supply chain realignments between the US-led free world and the China-led bloc” and Washington’s increasingly explicit efforts to contain Beijing.
“Korea cannot act or make judgments that deviate from the US’ basic policy direction,” he said.
INEVITABLE RELATIONSHIP ARISING FROM GEOPOLITICAL PROXIMITY
On ties with China, Lee struck a cautious tone, noting that Seoul had to “manage and maintain the inevitable relationship that arises from geographical proximity,” while downplaying speculation that his administration is adopting a pro-Beijing stance.
South Korean President Lee Jae Myung (left) chats with John Hamre, CSIS CEO, after delivering a speech at the Center for Strategic and International Studies in Washington, D.C. South Korea has long sought to balance its security alliance with the US and its economic reliance on China, its biggest trading partner.
But Washington has pressured its allies to lessen dependence on Chinese supply chains, a message underlined in June by US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth, who warned at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore that economic dependence on China "deepens their malign influence." He urged US allies not to stand with Beijing.
SEOUL TO BOOST DEFENSE SPENDING
At the speech, Lee also pledged to increase South Korea’s defense spending against North Korea, saying Seoul will take a “more proactive role” in ensuring the security of the Korean Peninsula.
Camp Humphreys, a US military base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, South Korea His remarks come as the Trump administration has pressed allies where US troops are stationed to raise military expenditures to as much as 5% of gross domestic product.
Analysts said the shift in foreign policy stance underscores South Korea’s growing entanglement in the geopolitical confrontation between its security guarantor and its biggest export market, with Lee betting that alignment with Washington offers greater long-term security and economic resilience than a precarious balancing act.
Write to Jae-young Han at jyhan@hankyung.com In-Soo Nam edited this article.
