South Korea and the United States will hold a high-level meeting on extended deterrence against North Korea in Washington D.C. in September.
Dubbed the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group(EDSCG), it is a gathering of the allies’ vice ministers of foreign affairs and defense.
According to Seoul’s defense ministry on Wednesday, South Korea and the U.S. reaffirmed their shared goal of the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and promised to maintain a readiness posture to defend the Republic of Korea during the 21st Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue(KIDD), which was held in Seoul on Tuesday and Wednesday.
At the defense meeting attended by key defense and foreign affairs officials, the two sides agreed to reconvene the EDSCG meeting next month, as agreed upon during the South Korea-U.S. summit in May, and to conduct the Table Top Exercise(TTX) at an early date.
South Korea and the U.S. agreed to establish a Counter Missile Working Group(CMWG) aimed at enhancing capabilities and posture against North Korean missile threats.
In addition, they agreed to expand the scope and scale of their combined military drills around the Korean Peninsula following their Ulchi Freedom Shield(UFS) exercise, set to begin on August 22.
They shared the view that they have seen a significant amount of progress in meeting requirements for the transfer of wartime operational control from the U.S. to South Korea. The two sides decided to cooperate for the successful assessment of the South Korean military’s Full Operational Capability during the upcoming UFS exercise, the defense ministry added.
Source: KBS World Radio