Brussels: The Pentagon's policy chief on Friday renewed calls for a new version of the North Atlantic Treaty Organization (NATO) that stresses allies' efforts to increase defense spending and take greater security responsibilities so as to adapt to "new" geopolitical realities. Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Elbridge Colby reiterated Washington's pursuit of "NATO 3.0" in social media posts, as he recapped his trip to Brussels this week, during which he attended the NATO defense ministerial talks on behalf of Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth.

According to Yonhap News Agency, Colby's remarks came as Seoul and Washington are working on "modernizing" the bilateral alliance, an effort likely to see South Korea undertake "primary" responsibilities to deter North Korea at a time when President Donald Trump's administration seeks to focus on defending the U.S. homeland and the Western Hemisphere, and deterring China. "At the Defense Ministers meeting, I delivered remarks on the changing security environment and how NATO must return to its founding vision: allied burden-sharing through well-resourced and capable European militaries, rather than the post-Cold War model," he wrote on X, stressing NATO is "a partnership, not a dependency."

Colby elaborated on the evolution of NATO, stating that NATO 1.0 during the Cold War was an "alliance of strong, self-sufficient nations carrying their own weight," while NATO 2.0 following the Cold War "overly relied on the U.S. and became distracted from its core purpose." He emphasized that "in this era of great power competition, NATO must adapt to new realities."

Colby outlined that "NATO 3.0 will be a strong and durable alliance." He referenced last year's Hague Summit where NATO members committed to spending at least 3.5 percent of their gross domestic product (GDP) annually on core defense expenditures by 2035, and up to 1.5 percent of GDP on other defense-linked areas. "NATO's historic commitment last year to spend 5 percent of GDP on defense has put the alliance on a stronger and more durable path," he stated.

South Korea's commitment to increasing its defense spending to 3.5 percent of its GDP has been highlighted by Colby as a commendable move, leading him to describe South Korea as a "model ally."