Colby Calls South Korea a 'Model Ally' in Seoul
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- Elbridge Colby, US Undersecretary of War, publicly called South Korea a "model ally" while visiting Seoul a few months ago
- South Korea (Republic of Korea, ROK) remains a longtime US partner bound by a mutual defense treaty signed in 1953, with the article framing the "model ally" label as a question rather than a settled assessment
Why it matters: A sitting Pentagon official publicly grading the alliance — and the article immediately challenging that grade — reframes the US-ROK relationship as an open debate rather than settled doctrine, putting Seoul's standing inside the Trump-era Pentagon under scrutiny.
