The 2026 U.S. National Defense Strategy (NDS) reallocates responsibility for deterrence and early crisis management on the Korean Peninsula to Seoul by treating South Korea’s conventional military capability as a settled fact.

In doing so, it expands South Korea’s operational autonomy while concentrating accountability for failure more heavily on Seoul without a corresponding transfer of authority or reassurance.

Rather than emphasizing future capability development or expanded U.S. commitments, the strategy frames South Korea’s military strength, political stability and defense industrial base as established conditions.

On that basis, it assigns primary responsibility for conventional deterrence and early escalation control to Seoul,