New US Strategy Raises Questions Over South Korea’s Security, Role In Broader Indo

Washington: From reasserting American heft in the Western Hemisphere to prioritising Taiwan’s defence and omitting the North Korean denuclearisation goal, key elements of the new US National Security Strategy (NSS) are raising questions about South Korea’s security and its role in a broader regional context.

On Thursday, the White House released the NSS, declaring a plan to enforce President Donald Trump’s version of the 1823 Monroe Doctrine, symbolic of American isolationism, and asserting the need for Seoul and Tokyo to build capabilities to defend the First Island Chain, a key perimeter for America’s preeminence against China in the Pacific, while mentioning nothing about North Korea.

The 33-page document came as Seoul and Washington push to “modernise” their alliance in a way that wo