Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Results and achievements of the ROK-US defense ministerial meeting

Speaking in unison in response to Pyongyang's provocation and threats..."More strategic assets will be deployed"

Active cooperation under the concept of extended deterrence, including information sharing, joint planning and implementation, and consultation system

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin hold a press conference after a meeting between the ROK and US defense officials at the Ministry of National Defense in Yongsan-gu, Seoul on the Jan. 31.

Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin salute the national flag at a ceremony prior to the meeting.

The ROK-US defense officials meeting held on Jan. 31 was a forum to reaffirm the steadfastness of the ROK-US alliance and the US commitment to provide extended deterrence. Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup and US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin spoke in unison about their decision to respond strongly to North Korea's provocations and threats at a joint press conference after the meeting. In particular, they agreed to actively cooperate on extended deterrence, including information sharing, joint planning and implementation, and consultation system, along with the capabilities of the alliance to deter and respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats.

Minister Lee said at the press conference that "this meeting commemorates the 70th anniversary of the ROK-US Alliance and is a first step toward a new 70 years," and added that " Secretary Austin and I had to respond together to joint security challenge factors, including the increasingly sophisticated North Korean nuclear and missile threats, and derive substantial results to further develop the alliance in a future-oriented way.”

Minister Lee began by saying, "We strongly denounce North Korea's missile launches, drone infiltrations, and other provocations, as well as its violation of UN Security Council resolutions," and "We reaffirm our determination to respond more resolutely to any future provocations by North Korea together with the international community.” He continued, "We have decided to jointly take steps to strengthen the extended deterrence execution capabilities to guarantee the US defense commitment to the Republic of Korea," and added, "In particular, as agreed at the ROK-US Summit last May and the ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in November, the alliance's capabilities, information sharing, joint planning and implementation, and extended deterrence execution capabilities in the areas of consultation system will be further strengthened."

"Last year, we experienced record provocations from North Korea," Secretary Austin also said, adding, "South Korea and the United States denounce such dangerous acts that violate international law and cause instability in the region." He continued, "The 28,500-strong US forces in South Korea cooperate with the South Korean forces every day. This is one of the largest number of US troops ever deployed worldwide, and shows the US’s firm commitment to maintain peace on the Korean Peninsula." "The US defense commitment to South Korea is ironclad, and our extended deterrence commitment is unwavering," he added. "Extended deterrence includes all categories of US military capabilities, including conventional missile defense capabilities."

In particular, Secretary Austin mentioned that there will be more deployments of strategic assets such as F-22 and F-35 stealth fighters and nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, and said, “We will deploy more of these in the future and deepen bilateral government consultations.” “The US defense commitment to Korea is not just a slogan, it is solid and iron-clad,” he continued. “This is the core of the extended deterrence pledge." "The two governments have already talked about various ways to strengthen the extended deterrence, and we will continue to work together in the future," he said.

In line with this, the two defense chiefs agreed to actively cooperate in each area under the concept of extended deterrence, which consists of four components: information sharing, joint planning, joint implementation, and a consultation system. In the area of information sharing, the scope of information sharing related to Pyongyang's nuclear threats will be expanded, and in the area of joint planning, there will be the revision of the TDS, a tailored deterrence strategy for ROK and the US, before this year's SCM. This can be seen as a result of reflecting the Korean side's willingness to actively consider Korea's position from the planning stage.

In the area of joint implementation, the DSC TTX, an exercise in the operation of extended deterrence measures, will be held in February this year in order to substantially discuss measures to deter and respond to North Korea's nuclear threats. The DSC TTX is a drill to devise ROK-US military countermeasures for each situation, assuming the stages of North Korea's nuclear threat, imminent nuclear use, and nuclear use. The most recent one was held in September 2021. South Korea and the United States decided to make this a regular practice at the time of the 54th SCM.

If past DSC TTXs have focused on crisis management on the Korean Peninsula, this one is meant to focus on the situation of North Korea's use of nuclear weapons. Above all, South Korea and the US are in the process of coordinating the location of the exercise to where they can give North Korea the strongest message of extended deterrence. It's a warning to North Korea that if it attacks South Korea with a nuclear weapon, it will have no choice but to self-destruct. The US Strategic Command, which oversees nuclear force operations and nuclear warfare, or bases for deploying and launching major strategic weapons are being discussed as likely venues.

The Ministry of National Defense plans to expand the scope of nuclear-related information sharing through the exercise, including North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles and the current status of the deployment and operation of US nuclear forces in the region. In the area of the consultation system, South Korea and the US agreed to cooperate closely in the entire decision-making process by activating the ROK-US crisis management consultative body in the event of a North Korean nuclear crisis.

By Chae-Mu, Im <lims86@dema.mil.kr >

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