S. Korea, U.S. start defense talks amid looming N. Korean missile launch

South Korean and U.S. defense officials were to begin their annual two-day senior-level talks on Wednesday to discuss countermeasures on North Korea's possible long-range missile launch in the coming weeks.
  

The Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) will run from Wednesday to Thursday in the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul, with each side headed by Yoo Jeh-seung, deputy minister for policy, and Abraham Denmark, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, and Elaine Bunn, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear and missile defense policy.
  

They plan to discuss punitive actions to be taken in the event of another North Korean nuclear detonation or long-range missile tests, which are predicted to take place before mid-October.
  

Ahead of the landmark anniversary of North Korea's ruling communist party on Oct. 10, the country vowed last week to launch a rocket carrying what it claims to be an observation satellite, cementing outside speculation of a looming test of an intercontinental ballistic missile.
  

Pyongyang also said last week that its nuclear reactors at the Yongbyon complex have been fully operating, hinting at another nuclear detonation test.
  

The U.S. is sending tough messages on North Korea's moves, with U.S. National Security Adviser Susan Rice saying earlier this week that the country is working together with China for a nuclear-free Korean Peninsula and won't accept North Korea as a nuclear state.
  

Other agenda items include the planned transfer of the U.S.-held wartime operational control of South Korean forces to the Northeast Asian country as well as the allies' defense plan against North Korean nuclear and missile weapons, dubbed "4D."
  

The operational plan encompassing detection, defense, disruption and destroying of North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles was agreed upon in the KIDD session held last year. (Yonhap)