The defense ministers of South Korea and the United States will meet next week to discuss ways to strengthen America’s extended deterrence capabilities to counter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats. The first meeting of representatives of member countries of the United Nations Command in Korea will also be held.
The Ministry of National Defense announced on the 9th that “Minister Shin Won-sik and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin will hold the 55th ROK-US Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) in Seoul on the 13th.” On the 14th, a meeting of defense ministers of Korea-UNC member countries will be held, attended by Ministers of Defense and representatives from 17 UNC member countries, including Minister Shin and Minister Austin.
According to the Ministry of National Defense, the SCM is an annual meeting between the defense ministers of the ROK and the United States that began in 1968 and mainly deals with bilateral alliance issues related to military and security fields, such as security on the Korean Peninsula and the ROK-U.S. joint defense posture.
In relation to this, the Ministry of National Defense said through this SCM, “We plan to maintain and strengthen the momentum to develop the ROK-US alliance, which has been further solidified through several summits this year and the Korea-U.S.-Japan summit, into one of the world’s best alliances.”
At this SCM, South Korea and the United States plan to discuss future development plans for the alliance, including ‘extended deterrence’ between Korea and the United States and the science and technology alliance. The Ministry of National Defense specifically selected △assessment of the North Korean situation and coordination of North Korea policy, △improving joint defense posture and extended deterrence implementation, △defense science and technology and global defense industry cooperation, △Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation, and △regional security cooperation as the main agenda of this SCM.
‘Extended deterrence’ refers to the policy of the United States providing deterrence to its allies by operating all categories of military capabilities, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense capabilities.
Accordingly, the two sides are expected to reconfirm at this SCM the matters regarding nuclear and conventional power information sharing and joint planning and implementation agreed upon in the ‘Washington Declaration’ in April this year. Discussions are also expected to take place on ways to combine the U.S. military’s nuclear capabilities with our military’s conventional capabilities.
In addition, discussions on revising the ‘Tailored Deterrence Strategy’ (TDS) jointly established by South Korea and the United States in 2013 are expected to be finalized within the year with this SCM as an opportunity. Military authorities plan to include in the revised TDS a specific response strategy optimized for the situation on the Korean Peninsula, taking into account the characteristics of North Korea’s leadership, nuclear and missile threats, and the development of alliance capabilities.
Both Korea and the United States are also expected to reaffirm their basic position of systematically and stably promoting wartime operational control transition in accordance with the ‘Conditions-Based Wartime Operational Control Transition Plan (COTP)’ approved in 2015.
At this SCM, a Ministry of National Defense official said, “The defense chiefs of the two countries will discuss key contents in the defense and security fields among the agreements between the leaders of the ROK and the United States so far, and various events held to mark the 70th anniversary of the alliance this year will be comprehensive and concluded,” adding, “For the next 30 years, “In other words, we will discuss in depth the direction of development in the defense sector in anticipation of the 100th anniversary of the ROK-US alliance,” he added.
Minister of National Defense Shin Won-sik. 2023.10.31/News 1 Meanwhile, Minister Shin took this SCM as an opportunity to explain in detail to the U.S. the situation, including restrictions on our military’s surveillance of North Korea pursuant to the 2018 ‘September 19 Inter-Korean Military Agreement’, and also expressed his position on the necessity and justification for suspending the effect. It is reported that it will be delivered. The U.S. Department of Defense previously stated on the 7th (local time), “It is up to Korea to decide whether to suspend the effect of the (September 19 Agreement).”
In addition, a Ministry of National Defense official said, “Discussions will also take place on the operation of a high-level defense science and technology consultative body between the ROK and US ministries, expansion of cooperation in the field of science and technology, and regional security situations such as the war in Ukraine.”
On the 12th, a day before the SCM, the ROK and the United States will hold a Military Committee Meeting (MCM) attended by Kim Seung-gyeom, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and Charles Brown, Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, to assess the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and discuss ways to strengthen the combined defense posture.
Additionally, prior to this SCM, Minister Shin and Minister Austin plan to hold a trilateral defense ministers’ meeting with the participation of Japanese Defense Minister Minoru Kihara to discuss joint response measures between Korea, the United States, and Japan in response to North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats.
At this meeting, the defense ministers of South Korea, the United States, and Japan are expected to discuss the operation of a real-time sharing system for missile warning information launched by North Korea within the year and the specification of a multi-year military training plan in which the forces of the three countries participate.
The Defense Ministers’ Meeting of Korea-UNC Member States, held on the 14th, the day after the SCM, is the first event held this year to mark the 70th anniversary of the Korean War (Korean War) armistice. About 300 people, including ministerial delegations from 17 UNC member countries, will attend this meeting to evaluate the role and contributions of the UNC over the past 70 years since its establishment.
In particular, the meeting participants plan to adopt a joint statement containing the following: △calling for North Korea to stop its illegal activities and implementing UN Security Council resolutions; and △jointly responding to emergencies on the Korean Peninsula, such as North Korea’s armed attack, by rejoining the war.
The Ministry of National Defense said, “It is significant that this is the first meeting to explore the role of the UNC in suppressing war and maintaining peace on the Korean Peninsula and ways to cooperate between the ROK and UNC member countries,” adding, “Concrete cooperation is aimed at seeking cooperation and solidarity between the ROK and UNC member countries.” “We plan to present and discuss the direction, history and future vision of the UNC,” he added.
U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin. ⓒ Reuters = News 1It is reported that the current ROK-UNC meeting will also discuss a plan to permanently include a Korean military general as the UNC chief of staff. If our military is included as the Chief of Staff of the UNC, there is a possibility that discussions to change our country’s UNC-related status from ‘state party’ to ‘member state’ will also accelerate.
Ministry of National Defense Spokesperson Jeon Ha-gyu said, “(With the United Nations Command) we are strengthening the cooperation necessary to deter war on the Korean Peninsula,” and added, “Discussions are underway on the direction for the Korean military to participate in the UNC Staff Department. However, it has not yet been decided how large it will be and what position it will take,” he explained.
Our military authorities believe that North Korea is likely to launch armed provocations, such as attempting to relaunch a reconnaissance satellite, as a sign of antipathy towards the SCM and the Defense Ministers’ Meeting of the ROK-UNC member countries, and are also monitoring related trends.
Source: Donga
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