SOUTH KOREA PERSPECTIVE

The Korea Times covers the budget with typical South Korean factual detail but places it in a precise regional context. The 40% increase is called 'the sharpest since World War II' and the Korea Times notes the war 'drives up costs' -- acceleration vocabulary. South Korea reads this budget through the prism of its own dependence on the American military umbrella and the North Korean threat. Seoul increases its own defense spending annually and sees the US increase as validation. But the unasked question is the same as in Tokyo and Singapore: if the US commits massively to the Middle East, what capacity remains for the Korean Peninsula? The Korea Times doesn't formulate this concern explicitly -- restraint is a cultural trait. But the article's placement alongside coverage of France-Korea Hormuz negotiations reveals Seoul thinks simultaneously about war and energy.