President Donald Trump came away from his South Korea visit Wednesday with a renewed commitment from President Moon Jae-in for major buys of U.S. weapons programs worth billions, including F-35s,
Global Hawk drones and the
Aegis ashore anti-missile system.
In a joint statement issued before Trump left for China, Moon underscored “his plan to substantially increase defense spending by 2022, which will help cover the Republic of Korea’s financial commitments made by past administrations to major United States origin programs.”
The weapons systems include
F-35A Joint Strike Fighters, KF-16 fighter upgrades,
Patriot PAC-3 ballistic missile upgrades,
AH-64E Apache heavy attack helicopters, Global Hawk high-altitude Unmanned Aerial Vehicles, and the Aegis combat systems, the statement said.
Trump also “reaffirmed his support” for South Korea’s acquisition and development of the advanced military assets on its wish list, the statement said.