South Korea and the United States revised a bilateral deterrence strategy on North Korea, the first revision in a decade, during the annual security talks on Monday, aiming to better respond to the country's growing missile and nuclear threat.
South Korean defense minister Shin Won Sik and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, met in Seoul and signed the updated Tailored Deterrence Strategy, adopted in 2013, the defense ministry said, though it did not reveal details of the revision.
Austin, referring to recent deployments of many U.S. strategic military assets to South Korea, said at a press conference after the talks that the United States' commitment to providing the country "extended deterrence," which includes the full range of its nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities, remains ironclad.
"And through our regular combined exercises, we are continuing to strengthen our shared readiness and our ability to fight tonight if necessary," Austin added.
The revision comes as North Korea has shown advancement in its nuclear and missile capabilities. In September last year, the country adopted a law authorizing the launch of pre-emptive nuclear strikes.
Shin said at a press conference that the two defense ministers also stressed the trilateral security cooperation with Japan for the peace and stability of the Indo-Pacific by boosting military drills in quantity and quality. He added that a system to share real-time information on North Korean missiles is part of the cooperation.
Shin, Austin and Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara affirmed the previous day that the system is "in the final stage" toward a year-end launch, Kihara told reporters in Tokyo after holding a virtual meeting with his U.S. and South Korean counterparts.
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