NDS: "North Korea's nuclear weapons could strike South Korea and Japan," South Korean media removes, Lee Jae-myung's "military economic growth" plunges 0.3% in Q4
South Korean media outlets have collectively deleted the part of the US National Defense Strategy that acknowledges North Korea's nuclear attack capabilities, stating, "North Korea has nuclear weapons capable of striking targets in South Korea and Japan."
The National Defense Strategy (NDS) officially changed North Korea's official name to DPRK and stated, "North Korea's missile forces are capable of striking targets in South Korea and Japan using conventional weapons, nuclear weapons, and other weapons of mass destruction. At the same time, North Korea's nuclear forces are increasingly capable of threatening the US mainland."
In contrast, President Lee Jae-myung announced that "the military buildup contributes to economic growth," while South Korean media outlets deleted the "North Korean nuclear strike capability." The Pentagon specifically changed its statement to "At the same time, North Korea's nuclear forces are increasingly capable of threatening the US mainland," and "These forces are growing in scale and sophistication, posing a clear and present threat of nuclear attack on the US mainland."
Responding to the US NDS announcement on the 24th, President Lee Jae-myung defined the military buildup as economic growth, stating, "A robust, independent national defense and peace on the Korean Peninsula enable sustained economic growth." In his campaign pledge, he highlighted the military buildup as a conglomerate economy, aiming to achieve a KOSPI 5000 index.
However, the South Korean economy actually suffered a significant decline of -0.3% last year due to massive fiscal and fund injections. President Lee ruled out a negative economic recession due to excessive stock price stimulation stemming from military spending growth. The -0.3% drop in the fourth quarter, a period when South Korea's exports are concentrated, marked the largest decline in three years.
The Bank of Korea, which in November of last year forecast a 0.2% growth rate for the fourth quarter, actually saw a sharp decline of -0.5%.
The US National Defense Strategy defined the Lee Jae-myung administration as focusing on direct US military support for South Korea, expanding the defense industry, spreading US-standard weapons globally, strengthening the low-cost supply chain for South Korea's counterfeit goods, and pressuring China and North Korea to control their military buildup.
The Lee Jae-myung administration's strategy of boosting stock prices through military buildup was formalized through deficit spending and the expansion of AI funds, which relied on the US private equity fund Black Rock, to support stock prices through the defense industry and AI weapons. Foreign investors, taking advantage of the dollar-fixed demand structure that binds South Korea to a $650 billion investment agreement with the US, have been luring investment in South Korean stocks through the weakening of the won.
The NDS document recognizes North Korea as a nuclear state as follows: <North Korea’s missile forces are also capable of striking targets in the ROK and Japan with conventional and nuclear weapons as well as other weapons of mass destruction.
At the same time, the DPRK’s nuclear forces are increasingly capable of threatening the U.S. 12 UNCLASSIFIED NATIONAL DEFENSE STRATEGY Homeland. These forces are growing in size and sophistication, and they present a clear and present danger of nuclear attack on the American Homeland.
Yonhap News reported on the 24th, under the headline "US National Defense Strategy Emphasizes North Korea's 'Mainland Nuclear Attack Risk', Omits Denuclearization Goal" and with the subheading "May Reflect the Practical Difficulties of Denuclearization or Consider the Possibility of North Korea-US Dialogue; Golden Dome and Nuclear Modernization Mentioned as Nuclear Threat Defense Strategy."
The report continued, "In the NDS, the US Department of Defense stated that North Korea's nuclear forces "are increasingly capable of threatening the US homeland," and that "these forces are increasing in size and sophistication, posing a clear and present danger of nuclear attack on the US homeland." South Korean media outlets all omitted the section the US Department of Defense specified, "North Korean nuclear weapons could strike targets in South Korea and Japan."
The Chosun Ilbo reported on the 25th, "Trump's New US National Defense Strategy... Raising Defense on the Homeland, Lowering North Korea," with the subheading "South Korea Must Be Wary of North Korean Invasion," and without mentioning North Korea's denuclearization, only emphasizing the "risk of a nuclear attack on the US mainland," placing South Korea below Iran as a threat.
The Chosun Ilbo stated, "While defining North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities as a 'clear and present threat to the US mainland,' it also made clear that South Korea must take a leading role in conventional defense." The report also stated, "The US listed China, Russia, Iran, and North Korea as potential threats, stating, 'North Korea poses a direct military threat to the US and its allies, South Korea and Japan.' It added, 'While most of North Korea's large-scale conventional forces are aging or poorly managed, South Korea must remain vigilant against a North Korean invasion.'" It omitted the reference to "North Korea's nuclear weapons striking South Korea and Japan."
South Korea's fourth-quarter plunge was due to the Lee Jae-myung administration's fiscal expansion and stock market support driven by consumer stimulus measures. Exports shrank 2.1% due to a decline in automobiles, machinery, and equipment. Imports also fell 1.7%, led by natural gas and automobiles.
Notably, domestic demand and net exports (exports minus imports) recorded -0.1 and -0.2 percentage points, respectively, contributing to fourth-quarter growth. Domestic demand's contribution plummeted 1.3 percentage points compared to the previous third quarter (1.2 percentage points), dragging down the economy and causing stock prices to more than double, with the KOSPI index reaching 5000.
As of the 25th, foreigners held 1,398.0348 trillion won of the total market capitalization of the Korean stock market, accounting for 37.18%, making them the absolute dominant force. Last year, foreign securities firms rushed to announce the "KOSPI 6500."
Foreign ownership stood at 31-32% in the first half of last year, before the Lee Jae-myung administration took office. It began to increase in September after President Lee agreed to a $650 billion investment in the United States at the White House in late August. It surpassed 35% in October, 36% in late December, and 37% in January, reaping high returns from both rising stock prices and a rising exchange rate (undervalued Korean won).
The chaebol leaders who invested over $200 billion in the United States benefited from the surge in defense, AI, and semiconductor stock prices, providing the government with a foundation for the rise of billionaires under the Trump administration. Furthermore, high inflation and the rapid rise in the price of expensive apartments created an extreme asset class system in Korea. The Cold War system's compressed, high-growth economy under the US security umbrella heightened the security crisis and shifted from a rigid system to an export-oriented economy based on labor-intensive light industry and capital-intensive heavy industry. Subsequently, the US's strategy of overproduction under socialist pressure shifted to a post-Reagan strategy of shock therapy driven by oversupply and a surge in stock prices.
Furthermore, the Lee Jae-myung administration appears to have attempted to create an extremely polarized society among capitalist powers.
The Lee Jae-myung-BlackRock regime appears to have deliberately manipulated the recession into a "growth phase." They used both "Trump-Kim Jong-un capital development in Wonsan, North Korea" and "strengthened military buildup" as shock therapy for the stock market rebound just before the South Korea-US summit in New York last August. They made the April North Korea-US summit a strategic core, attempting to transform South Korea into a high-yield, guaranteed-return structure.
President Lee met with Larry Fink, Chairman of BlackRock, immediately after arriving in New York and before heading to the White House. BlackRock signed an MOU for global cooperation in the AI industry with Minister of Science and Technology Bae Kyung-hoon.
BlackRock Chairman Fink told the president that day, "We will actively cooperate by connecting global capital to help Korea become Asia's AI (artificial intelligence) capital."
See <Lee Jae-myung: 'Exchange is Peace' Violates UN 'Recommendation Prohibition', Kim Jong-un Calls US 'Peaceful Coexistence', September 24, 2025>
<Lee Jae-myung: 'North Korea, the Front Line of Conflict Between Capitalism and Socialism, Needs Ties with Trump', September 22, 2025>
<Trump's Whipsaw Diplomacy: Lee Jae-myung: 'North Korea's Nuclear Removal is Denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula', January 23, 2026>
<US Department of Defense: Korea Demands Military Buildup, China Containment, 'Taiwan Replacement Unacceptable': Korea-Japan Unity, January 24, 2026>