Shangri-La Dialogue raises South Korea's strategic profile ahead of US delegation visit

Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-baek expressed gratitude after US Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth praised South Korea's pragmatic diplomacy and its progress on wartime operational control transfer. Ahn separately asked US lawmakers to support cooperation on nuclear-powered submarines and shipbuilding. Although no formal bilateral talks were held at the Shangri-La Dialogue in Singapore, analysts say the forum produced meaningful results by highlighting South Korea's defense industry and other negotiating assets ahead of a US delegation visit to Seoul this week.

Yoo Ji-hoon, a research fellow at the Korea Institute for Defense Analyses, said Sunday that "the significance of Minister Ahn's visit lies in elevating South Korea's strategic value, even without a major agreement or joint statement." He added that "with the United States pressing allies for tangible contributions, this week's negotiations offer an opportunity to coordinate concrete security agenda items — including South Korea's defense industry, shipbuilding and MRO (maintenance, repair and overhaul)."

South Korea and the United States plan to hold a kickoff meeting in Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday to follow up on security provisions in the joint fact sheet from their summit talks.

The South Korean side will be led by First Vice Foreign Minister Park Yoon-joo and will include a pan-government delegation from the National Security Office, the Ministry of Foreign Affairs, the Ministry of National Defense, the Ministry of Climate and Energy, the Ministry of Science and ICT, and the Ministry of Trade, Industry and Energy. The US delegation, led by Undersecretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, will include representatives from the White House National Security Council, the Department of State, the Department of Energy and the Department of Defense.

Hegseth's positive remarks at the Shangri-La Dialogue about South Korea's defense contributions and capabilities have been interpreted as a signal that Washington views Seoul not merely as a security beneficiary but as a core ally capable of playing a larger role.

That dynamic could also work in South Korea's favor when the US delegation arrives. Yoo said nuclear-powered submarines "are not simply a weapons acquisition matter but a strategic issue tied to nuclear fuel, reactor safety, nonproliferation verification, operational concepts and South Korea-US technology cooperation." He recommended that Seoul frame the submarine issue not only in terms of self-reliant defense but also as a contribution to "strengthening the maritime deterrence of the South Korea-US alliance and promoting Indo-Pacific stability."

Ahn said he briefed US lawmakers thoroughly on South Korea's capabilities, including the 2020 agreement that 94 percent of the conditions for transferring wartime operational control had been met. He said he asked Congress to support the transfer of operational control, nuclear-powered submarine cooperation, and shipbuilding and MRO collaboration.

Meanwhile, Hegseth posted a photo on social media showing himself alongside Ahn and Japanese Defense Minister Koizumi Shinjiro. The three met on the sidelines of the Shangri-La Dialogue for a brief exchange before posing for the photo. No substantive discussions or formal meetings took place due to time constraints, but the encounter was arranged to underscore the three countries' commitment to trilateral security cooperation. South Korea and the United States have typically held bilateral defense talks at the Shangri-La Dialogue, but the format was adjusted this year in part because Ahn had already visited the United States and met Hegseth in May.