The defense ministers of South Korea and the United States will mainly discuss ways to deter North Korean aggression when they meet in Seoul later this week, officials here said Wednesday.
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and his U.S. counterpart, Ashton Carter, are scheduled to hold talks Friday “to explore ways to improve joint capabilities and reinforce deterrence against North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles,” a senior official here said on condition of anonymity.
Carter will fly into South Korea on Thursday for a three-day visit as part of his first trip to the Asia-Pacific region since taking office last month, with his itinerary including a trip to Japan starting Tuesday.
“The chiefs are to share their assessment of the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and how to better coordinate their policy on North Korea,” the official said, adding it will also be the venue for the U.S. to reaffirm its commitment to security here.
Also on the table will be follow-up measures to smoothly push for the transfer of the wartime operational control of South Korean troops from Washington to Seoul, according to the ministry.
In November, the allies agreed to delay the wartime OPCON transition until South Korea is capable of countering threats from Pyongyang. The two sides are eyeing the mid-2020s as the time frame for the handover.
The allies’ meeting comes at a time when North Korea has continuously ratcheted up tensions by building military capabilities and making good on threats.
As the latest move, Pyongyang test-fired four short-range KN-02 missiles into the West Sea last week against the ongoing Seoul-Washington military exercise. On Thursday, Adm. William Gortney, in charge of the U.S. Northern Command, said the bellicose regime is believed to be capable of building a nuclear weapon small enough to fit atop a long-range missile that can reach the U.S. mainland.
Following the ministerial talks, Han and Carter also plan to visit the Navy’s 2nd Fleet Command to pay tribute to the sailors who died in the sinking of the warship Cheonan.
On March 26, 2010, an explosion rocked the 1,200-ton naval corvette, which sank in the Yellow Sea, killing 46 sailors. A South Korean-led international investigation found that the North had torpedoed the ship, though Pyongyang denied its involvement. The hull of the vessel is on display in the Command headquarters in Pyeongtaek, some 70 kilometers south of Seoul.
“Carter will be the first U.S. defense minister to visit the site to commemorate the deceased,” the official said. “It will be a chance to display the allies’ staunch will to jointly cope with any threat and provocations by North Korea.”
Whether Carter will broach the issue of the possible U.S. deployment of the Terminal High Altitude Area Defense system on the peninsula has drawn key attention at home and abroad, though Seoul and Washington officials have said they have decided not to bring the matter up this time.
Washington has expressed its willingness to deploy the battery here to better defend South Korea from the North’s threats and to guarantee the safety of the around 28,000 U.S. troops stationed here and their families. The move has since been one of the most controversial security issues at home and abroad amid concerns and opposition from neighboring countries, mainly China and Russia.
THAAD is designed to shoot down short, medium and intermediate ballistic missiles at a higher altitude in their terminal phase using a hit-to-kill method.
After their talks, Han and Carter will hold a press conference, according to Seoul officials, adding the U.S. secretary will leave here on Saturday for the country’s Pacific Command in Hawaii. (Yonhap)
