{"id":2208367,"date":"2025-02-14T08:00:20","date_gmt":"2025-02-13T23:00:20","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/?p=2208367"},"modified":"2025-02-13T14:05:05","modified_gmt":"2025-02-13T05:05:05","slug":"us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/","title":{"rendered":"US retreat on Ukraine may push Europe to turn to South Korea for defense needs"},"content":{"rendered":"<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/www.defense.gov\/News\/News-Stories\/Article\/Article\/4064571\/hegseth-calls-on-nato-allies-to-lead-europes-security-rules-out-support-for-ukr\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">stated<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> on Thursday that Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership is not a realistic outcome of any peace settlement with Russia, calling on European NATO allies to take the lead in securing Ukraine and strengthening their own defenses. Speaking at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels, Hegseth emphasized that the U.S. will not deploy troops to Ukraine and that any security guarantees must be backed by European and non-European forces, but outside of NATO\u2019s Article 5 framework. He also urged European nations to increase their defense spending from 2% to 5% of GDP, aligning with President Donald Trump\u2019s vision of a more self-reliant Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hegseth further stated that attempts to restore Ukraine\u2019s pre-2014 borders were unrealistic, warning that prolonging the war in pursuit of this goal would only lead to further bloodshed. He insisted that European NATO members must expand their defense industrial base, donate more military aid to Ukraine and prepare their citizens for the security threats facing Europe.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><b>WHY IT MATTERS<\/b><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Hegseth\u2019s remarks signal a U.S. retreat from European security, leaving its Western allies to fend for themselves. The shift will embolden Moscow and force European nations to increase their defense spending, driving up demand for tanks, artillery and air-defense systems \u2014 especially in Eastern Europe. Poland, the Baltics and Finland are expected to ramp up defense purchases, and South Korean defense firms \u2014 already a major supplier to <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2023\/08\/south-korean-defense-minister-visits-poland-to-amplify-defense-partnership\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">Poland<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> \u2014 are well-positioned to benefit from this demand.<\/span><\/p>\n<p><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">South Korea will face strong competition from European defense manufacturers. French President Emmanuel Macron has previously <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2024\/07\/europes-push-for-domestic-arms-production-threatens-south-koreas-exports\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">emphasized<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> that European governments must prioritize their domestic defense industries to reduce reliance on foreign suppliers. However, South Korean manufacturers have a competitive advantage in cost-effectiveness and rapid production capacity, making them an attractive option if European production struggles to keep up with surging demand. If bottlenecks emerge in European supply chains, South Korea\u2019s <\/span><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2022\/09\/south-koreas-defense-industry-looks-to-europe-with-major-polish-arms-deal\/\"><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\">reputation<\/span><\/a><span style=\"font-weight: 400;\"> for delivering large-scale orders quickly could lead to additional contracts.<\/span><\/p>\n<div class=\"content-tags\"><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/business-economy\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Business &amp; Economy<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/defense-security\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Defense &amp; Security<\/span><\/a><a href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/tag\/inter-korean-foreign-relations\/\"><span class=\"tag\">Inter-Korean &amp; Foreign Relations<\/span><\/a><\/div>","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"<p>U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Thursday that Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership is not a realistic outcome of any peace settlement with Russia, calling on European NATO allies to take the lead in securing Ukraine and strengthening their own defenses. Speaking at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels, Hegseth emphasized that the U.S. [&hellip;]<\/p>\n","protected":false},"author":10407,"featured_media":2208368,"comment_status":"closed","ping_status":"closed","sticky":false,"template":"","format":"standard","meta":{"footnotes":""},"categories":[30],"tags":[24,26,28],"class_list":["post-2208367","post","type-post","status-publish","format-standard","has-post-thumbnail","hentry","category-briefings","tag-business-economy","tag-defense-security","tag-inter-korean-foreign-relations"],"yoast_head":"<!-- This site is optimized with the Yoast SEO plugin v23.7 - https:\/\/yoast.com\/wordpress\/plugins\/seo\/ -->\n<title>US retreat on Ukraine may push Europe to turn to South Korea for defense needs - Korea Pro<\/title>\n<meta name=\"robots\" content=\"index, follow, max-snippet:-1, max-image-preview:large, max-video-preview:-1\" \/>\n<link rel=\"canonical\" href=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:locale\" content=\"en_US\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:type\" content=\"article\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:title\" content=\"US retreat on Ukraine may push Europe to turn to South Korea for defense needs - Korea Pro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:description\" content=\"U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth stated on Thursday that Ukraine\u2019s NATO membership is not a realistic outcome of any peace settlement with Russia, calling on European NATO allies to take the lead in securing Ukraine and strengthening their own defenses. Speaking at the Ukraine Defense Contact Group meeting in Brussels, Hegseth emphasized that the U.S. [&hellip;]\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:url\" content=\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:site_name\" content=\"Korea Pro\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:publisher\" content=\"https:\/\/www.facebook.com\/nknewsorg\/\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:published_time\" content=\"2025-02-13T23:00:20+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"article:modified_time\" content=\"2025-02-13T05:05:05+00:00\" \/>\n<meta property=\"og:image\" content=\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/02\/eb-8.png\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:width\" content=\"1870\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:height\" content=\"1000\" \/>\n\t<meta property=\"og:image:type\" content=\"image\/png\" \/>\n<meta name=\"author\" content=\"johnleenknews\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:card\" content=\"summary_large_image\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:creator\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:site\" content=\"@southkoreapro\" \/>\n<meta name=\"twitter:label1\" content=\"Written by\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data1\" content=\"KOREA PRO\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:label2\" content=\"Est. reading time\" \/>\n\t<meta name=\"twitter:data2\" content=\"2 minutes\" \/>\n<script type=\"application\/ld+json\" class=\"yoast-schema-graph\">{\"@context\":\"https:\/\/schema.org\",\"@graph\":[{\"@type\":\"Article\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/#article\",\"isPartOf\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/\"},\"author\":{\"name\":\"johnleenknews\",\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#\/schema\/person\/628fb985625ed7bb2c475bed33f6445f\"},\"headline\":\"US retreat on Ukraine may push Europe to turn to South Korea for defense needs\",\"datePublished\":\"2025-02-13T23:00:20+00:00\",\"dateModified\":\"2025-02-13T05:05:05+00:00\",\"mainEntityOfPage\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/\"},\"wordCount\":343,\"publisher\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/#organization\"},\"image\":{\"@id\":\"https:\/\/koreapro.org\/2025\/02\/us-retreat-on-ukraine-may-push-europe-to-turn-to-south-korea-for-defense-needs\/#primaryimage\"},\"thumbnailUrl\":\"https:\/\/assets.korearisk.com\/uploads\/sites\/6\/2025\/02\/eb-8.png\",\"keywords\":[\"Business &amp; 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