Defense Secretary Lee Jong-seop and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said, "New measures are being taken to strengthen deterrence and expand measures against North Korea's destabilizing actions, deploying U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula in a timely and coordinated manner as needed. "I reaffirmed the US promise to go out to find them," he said.
In a joint statement issued after the 54th Korea-U.S. Security Council (SCM) meeting held at the Pentagon in Virginia on the 3rd (local time), the two Ministers said, "We decided to further strengthen the alliance's capabilities, information sharing, consultation procedures, joint planning and execution," he said.
The Minister and the Minister agreed to closely consult with each other through various consultative bodies, such as the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Consultative Group (KIDD), to find a more strengthened extended deterrence plan.
"Any nuclear attack, including non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons, on the United States or its allies and allies is unacceptable," Austin warned, "and will lead to the end of the Kim Jong-un regime."
Regarding South Korea's 'bold initiative', Secretary Austin welcomed it as a useful approach to steer North Korea toward denuclearization.
He then re-emphasized the United States' commitment to maintaining the current level of USFK forces in the defense of the Republic of Korea.
The two Ministers also agreed to work closely together to resume a large-scale combined outdoor maneuver exercise next year in conjunction with the combined exercise.
They also expressed one voice in promoting the strengthening of trilateral security cooperation between South Korea, the United States, and Japan.
The two Ministers said, "The two sides reaffirmed their commitment to continuously promote and expand trilateral security cooperation through regular security meetings such as the Korea-U.S.-Japan Security Meeting (DTT)."
Regarding the Indo-Pacific region, the two Ministers shared the view that "the ROK-U.S. alliance plays a key role in the security, stability and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region." We decided to keep improving it,” he explained.
Regarding the condition-based OPCON transition plan, the two Ministers said that all evaluation tasks met the criteria as a result of the FOC evaluation of the future CFC. He explained that it was decided to proceed after a joint South Korea-U.S. evaluation of capabilities and systems.
(Photo = Getty Images Korea)