The U.S. Department of Defense has presented a new standard calling for its Asian allies, including South Korea, to boost defense spending to around five percent of their gross domestic product(GDP). 

Pentagon spokesperson Sean Parnell conveyed the information Thursday in response to an inquiry from Seoul-based Yonhap News Agency.

Parnell said that as U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth said earlier in the day and at the Shangri-La Dialogue, America’s European allies are now setting the global standard for its alliances, which is to spend five percent of GDP on defense.

A Pentagon official later confirmed that he believes the new standard also applies to South Korea, in response to a question from Yonhap. 

The remarks come after the Pentagon chief said Thursday in a hearing before the Senate Armed Services Committee that with NATO increasing its defense spending, the U.S. now has a “new standard” for allied defense spending that all of its allies around the world, including its Asian allies, should move to.

Hegseth said that at the NATO summit next week, the U.S. expects NATO allies to commit to spending five percent of their GDP on defense and related investment.

South Korea spent approximately 66 trillion won on defense last year, or about 48 billion U.S. dollars, which is about two-point-eight percent of its GDP.