S. Korea, U.S. to discuss deterrence of N.K. threats

South Korea and the U.S. held their regular security talks in Seoul on Thursday to discuss security conditions on the Korean Peninsula and other alliance issues.

Deputy Minister for Policy Lim Gwan-bin and Michael Schiffer, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, led the 29th Security Policy Initiative meeting to end on Friday.

“South Korea and the U.S. will discuss ways of cooperating to deter and respond to North Korean provocations during this meeting,” the ministry said in a press release. “We will also talk about pending alliance issues such as the realignment of the U.S. Forces Korea and other regional and global security issues.”

During the SPI meeting, the two sides will also convene the second plenary meeting of the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee and the third working-level session for the Strategic Alliance 2015, a comprehensive roadmap needed to successfully realize the transition of operational wartime control slated for December 2015.

“During the EDPC meeting, we will jointly assess the threats from North Korea’s nuclear programs and weapons of mass destruction. We will also discuss the plan to push for a bilateral exercise to operate the tools for extended deterrence and ways to effectively deter North Korean threats,” the ministry said.

Extended deterrence means U.S. commitment to deter military threats to its key Asian ally of South Korea, including nuclear ones.

At the 42nd Security Consultative Meeting in Washington, D.C. last October, then-Defense Minister Kim Tae-young and his U.S. counterpart Robert Gates agreed to establish the special committee for extended deterrence.

By Song Sang-ho (sshluck@heraldcorp.com)