The U.S. and South Korea released a joint fact sheet and the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) joint communique over the weekend, outlining new economic and defense commitments and pledging closer coordination on regional security. The documents confirm that Seoul will purchase $25 billion in U.S. military equipment by 2030 and provide $33 billion in support for U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) “in accordance with ROK legal requirements.” The two allies also reaffirmed their intent to strengthen deterrence against “all regional threats to the Alliance, including the DPRK,” and committed to expanding trilateral security cooperation with Japan.

The documents avoided explicit