Military might in Tokyo, Seoul

Re “Rupturing Asian alliances,” Opinion, Dec. 16

No serious Asia analyst believes President Trump’s cost-sharing requests on South Korea and Japan are reasonable. But a U.S. demand for Seoul and Tokyo to take primary responsibility for their own defense is realistic.

Unfortunately, the administration is focusing far more on milking the two Asian powers for money rather than encouraging them to continue investing in their own military.

South Korea in particular is making steady strides toward that objective. Seoul’s defense budget increased by 7% in 2018 and is projected to grow by $239 billion over five years. Washington should be solidly supportive of these investments. A more capable South Korea serves the security interests of Seoul and Washington.

Likewise, Prime Minister Shinzo Abe has spent his tenure building a Japan that can quickly defend itself in multiple contingencies. While the White House should applaud those efforts, Japan needs to do a more adequate job of bolstering its anti-access, area-denial capability. Additional coastal defenses would not only enhance Japan’s defense in a rough neighborhood, but also help the U.S. fulfill a national defense strategy tailor-made for an era of great power competition.

Genuine and effective burden-sharing is not measured by the amount of cash given to the U.S., but rather how much responsibility our allies shoulder.

Daniel R. DePetris

New York The writer is a fellow at Defense Priorities.

The Korean War has been over for 66 years, but some argue for an openended U.S. military presence in Japan and South Korea, two wealthy countries perfectly capable of defending themselves.

Foreign bases cost U.S. taxpayers $250 billion annually. How much more secure would we be investing this in our crumbling infrastructure?

Chris Norby

Fullerton