South Korea and the U.S. "Do Not Consider Redeployment of Tactical Nuclear Weapons on the Korean Peninsula"

Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop at SCM Post-Meeting Press Conference: "Difficult to Predict Timing of North Korea's Nuclear Test"

[Asia Economy Yang Nak-gyu, Military Specialist Reporter] Defense Minister Lee Jong-seop and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin on the 3rd (local time) reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to "deploy U.S. strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula in a timely and coordinated manner as needed, expand measures to counter North Korea's destabilizing actions, and seek new measures to strengthen deterrence."

In a joint statement released after the 54th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) held at the Pentagon in Virginia, the two ministers stated, "We have agreed to further strengthen the alliance's capabilities, information sharing, consultation procedures, joint planning, and execution to deter and respond to North Korea's advancing nuclear and missile threats."

Immediately after the SCM, Minister Lee said at a joint press conference, "The government is not considering redeployment of tactical nuclear weapons to the Korean Peninsula." Regarding the timing of the imminent North Korean nuclear test, he said, "It is difficult to know when it will happen," and added, "Although China is believed to have influence over North Korea, considering past nuclear tests conducted regardless of China's position, it is hard to see China's influence as absolute."

The two ministers agreed to closely consult through various consultative bodies such as the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) to explore enhanced extended deterrence measures.

Secretary Austin warned, "Any nuclear attack, including non-strategic (tactical) nuclear weapons, against the United States, its allies, and partners will not be tolerated and will lead to the end of the Kim Jong-un regime." He welcomed South Korea's ‘Bold Initiative’ as a useful approach to lead North Korea toward denuclearization.

He also reaffirmed the U.S. commitment to continuously maintain the current level of U.S. Forces Korea to defend the Republic of Korea.

Secretary Austin emphasized, "We have decided with Minister Lee to expand the Korea-U.S. joint air exercise ‘Vigilant Storm’ to strengthen our posture," and added, "We will closely coordinate to prepare countermeasures to protect the United States and our allies." He also stated, "We discussed North Korea's continuous provocations and security threat activities," and "Our alliance is ironclad, and the United States is committed to all-range extended deterrence, including nuclear, conventional, and missile defense."

The two ministers also agreed to closely cooperate to resume large-scale joint field training exercises next year in conjunction with joint exercises. They spoke with one voice on promoting trilateral security cooperation among Korea, the U.S., and Japan.

The two ministers stated, "Both sides reaffirmed their commitment to continuously enhance and expand trilateral security cooperation through regular security meetings such as the Korea-U.S.-Japan Security Talks (DTT)." Regarding the Indo-Pacific region, the ministers agreed, "The Korea-U.S. alliance plays a key role in the security, stability, and prosperity of the Indo-Pacific region," and explained, "We will continue to promote defense and security cooperation in the Indo-Pacific region and the international community."

Regarding the conditions-based plan for wartime operational control (OPCON) transfer, the two ministers explained that all evaluation tasks met the standards in the Future Combined Forces Command's Full Operational Capability (FOC) assessment, and discussions on FOC verification will proceed after a joint Korea-U.S. evaluation of the capabilities and systems of ‘Condition 1’ and ‘Condition 2.’

This content was produced with the assistance of AI translation services.