Refer Report

On the 4th, South Korean and U.S. diplomatic and defense authorities held the 5th Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) high-level meeting in Washington, D.C., and discussed ways to implement extended deterrence in response to North Korea’s nuclear program and the possibility of a military demonstration by North Korea ahead of the U.S. presidential election.

Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-gyun announced at a press conference following a meeting at the State Department building that day that they had “assessed the North Korean nuclear threat and the security environment in the region” and “discussed the comprehensive extended deterrence cooperation plan between South Korea and the U.S.” Cho Chang-rae, director of the Defense Policy Office at the Ministry of National Defense, said, “We discussed in depth the factors affecting extended deterrence and effective response measures,” and “We introduced a scenario assuming a North Korean nuclear crisis for the first time and explored various measures to actually apply.”

“We reaffirm our commitment to extended deterrence against the Republic of Korea, using the full range of American defensive capabilities, and that a nuclear attack against the United States, our allies, and our partners is unacceptable and will result in the end of the North Korean regime,” said Bonnie Jenkins, Under Secretary of State for Arms Control and International Security.

The two sides also issued a joint press release stating that they “recognized the deepening connectivity between the Indo-Pacific region and the Euro-Atlantic region and discussed the implications of this for deterrence and the U.S. nuclear posture,” and that they “reviewed the impact of non-nuclear threats to the alliance, including emerging technologies, and agreed to leverage the alliance’s technological advantages to strengthen deterrence and defense.”

When asked about the nuclear weapons redeployment claim, Vice Minister Kim stated, “As a responsible nation in the international community, South Korea will definitely comply with the NPT (Nuclear Non-Proliferation Treaty),” and stated that the best way to respond to North Korea’s nuclear weapons is the extended deterrence provided by the United States. Therefore, he said that the redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons or self-nuclear armament is not the current government’s position. Acting Deputy Under Secretary of Defense for Policy Kara Abercrombie stated on this issue, “The United States’ position has not changed.”

Regarding the possibility that North Korea will conduct a show of force, such as a nuclear test or an intercontinental ballistic missile (ICBM) test launch ahead of the U.S. presidential election, Vice Minister Kim said, “The assessment of the South Korean and U.S. authorities is that we cannot completely rule out the possibility of a major provocation around the time of the presidential election,” and added, “We discussed various possible provocations and how to respond.”

Meanwhile, Robert Koepke, Deputy Assistant Secretary of State for East Asian and Pacific Affairs, said at the Korea-U.S. Relations Conference held in Washington by the Korea Development Institute (KDI) School of Public Policy and Management and others that he was deeply concerned about the strengthening of military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, and that since September of last year, North Korea had sent 16,500 containers worth of ammunition and related supplies to Russia. He also said that the Russian military is believed to have used 65 ballistic missiles supplied by North Korea in the attack on Ukraine. Shin Won-sik, then Minister of National Defense, said in a Bloomberg interview in June that North Korea had sent Russia more than 10,000 containers capable of holding at least 4.8 million shells.

Washington/Yvonne Lee Correspondent

ebon@hani.co.kr

Source: Korean