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North Korea's nuclear and missile capabilities are strengthened, the defense ministers of the Republic of Korea and the United States have issued a new strategic planning guideline for the first time in 11 years on how to operate the alliance's forces. Operation plans, which are manuals for all-out war and local warfare, are also expected to be revised.



This is Kim Tae-hoon, a defense reporter specializing in defense.



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For two years from 2016, North Korea has demonstrated a nuclear attack on the US mainland by conducting three nuclear tests and launching an intercontinental ballistic missile.



Starting this year, we are preparing for deployment by unveiling new strategic weapons one after another, including short-range missiles capable of carrying small nuclear warheads, submarine-launched ballistic missiles, and hypersonic missiles.



However, the ROK-U.S. Combined Operations Plan, a manual for all-out war and local warfare, mainly assumes non-nuclear and conventional warfare, so there is a limit to neutralizing North Korea's new weapons attack.



At the last annual security meeting of the Moon Jae-in administration, the defense ministers of the Republic of Korea and the United States approved new strategic planning guidelines that reflect North Korea's enhanced nuclear and missile capabilities.



[Lloyd Austin/Secretary of Defense: Approved a new strategic planning guideline, an important step forward in planning the future forces of the ROK-U.S. alliance.] After



11 years of revision of the strategic planning guideline, the two military forces will establish a new operational plan based on the revision

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[Seo Wook/Minister of Defense: It is necessary to provide necessary guidelines for the development of operational plans to more effectively respond to the changed strategic environment... .]



The transition of OPCON within the term of President Moon's presidential campaign was transferred to the next government as the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise effectively swung between COVID-19 and the improvement of inter-Korean relations.



In order to transfer OPCON, three stages of verification must be performed through the ROK-U.S. military exercise, and the military of both countries decided to conduct a second verification next year.



Regarding the Taiwan Strait, it was stated in the joint statement that it "confirmed the importance of maintaining peace and stability in the strait" at the level of the statement of the Korea-US summit in May.



(Video coverage: Han Il-sang, video editing: Jeong Seong-hoon)