Ask what Korea is talking about.

U.S. Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth brushed off concerns over a perceived growing rift in the Korea-U.S. alliance as "fake news," Seoul's Defense Minister Kang Shin-chul said Friday after a bilateral meeting with his U.S. counterpart, Yonhap and the Korea Times report. The remarks come amid broader alliance anxieties: President Lee Jae Myung vowed Thursday to strengthen the alliance while commemorating a Korean War battle, and the annual Security Consultative Meeting has been pushed back to early 2027, the Korea Times reports. Separately, recent U.S. visa setbacks for two ruling party lawmakers have drawn criticism over how Washington treats a key ally, the Korea Times adds. Korean reaction is largely framed through official statements and media coverage; no direct blog or café sentiment is available in the supplied documents.