South Korea and U.S. to Hold First Integrated Defense Dialogue under Second Trump Administration Next Week

To Be Held in Washington, D.C. on May 1-2

The defense ministries of South Korea and the United States will hold the first Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) under the second Donald Trump administration next week.

On April 25, the Ministry of National Defense announced that the 26th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue will be held in Washington, D.C. on May 1-2.

Ministry of National Defense, Yongsan-gu, Seoul. Photo by Kang Jinhyung

Attending the meeting as chief delegates will be Cho Changrae, Director General for National Defense Policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, and, from the U.S. side, John Noh, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, and Andrew Winternitz, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia. Other key officials from both countries' defense and foreign affairs sectors will also participate.

This meeting will be the first high-level defense talks between the two countries since the launch of the second Trump administration. In accordance with the 'Defense Dialogue Framework' agreed upon at the 56th SCM last year, the two sides plan to discuss a wide range of alliance security issues.

The Ministry of National Defense stated, "The two sides will hold in-depth discussions on policy areas such as: cooperation to deter and respond to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats; reaffirmation of the goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea; strengthening of combined defense posture; promotion of conditions-based transition of wartime operational control; and enhancement of regional security cooperation. In addition, they will discuss concrete measures to strengthen cooperation in the defense industry, including shipbuilding and MRO, as well as in defense science and technology."

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