Washington: The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States have jointly condemned North Korea's deployment of troops to Russia, expressing their disapproval in the "strongest" terms during their annual defense talks at the Pentagon. The condemnation came from South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin at the 56th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM). The deployment, which both nations fear could escalate Russia's war in Ukraine, was confirmed by Seoul and Washington. According to Yonhap News Agency, the SCM joint communique stated that the two leaders "strongly condemned in the strongest terms with one voice" the military cooperation between Russia and the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), which includes the deployment of forces. They pledged to coordinate closely with the international community on this issue. The defense chiefs stressed that such military cooperation, involving arms trade and high-tech transfers, violates U.N. Security Counci l resolutions, urging Russia to honor its commitments. The SCM followed a revelation by Washington that North Korea had dispatched around 10,000 troops to eastern Russia, with some moving closer to Ukraine. Both South Korea and the U.S. view this as having significant security implications for the Indo-Pacific region and Europe. During the meeting, Kim and Austin agreed to incorporate "realistic" scenarios, including potential North Korean nuclear attacks, into future combined military exercises. This indicates a potential shift in joint wartime contingency plans to include nuclear-based scenarios. While not detailed in the statement, this agreement suggests a possibility of integrating nuclear scenarios into the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command's wartime operational plans. Despite relying on conventional warfare scenarios, Seoul depends on Washington's "extended deterrence" commitment to counter North Korea's nuclear threats. This commitment involves the use of the full range of U.S. military capab ilities, including nuclear weapons, to defend South Korea. Tensions were heightened last month when North Korea disclosed a secretive uranium enrichment facility, with leader Kim Jong-un threatening nuclear retaliation if provoked. During their talks, Kim and Austin also urged North Korea to respect the Northern Limit Line (NLL), a maritime border that Pyongyang disputes. Both sides emphasized the NLL's effectiveness in preventing military tension over the past 70 years. The officials also endorsed a "Regional Cooperation Framework for U.S.-ROK Alliance Contributions to Security in the Indo-Pacific," aiming to extend the alliance's focus beyond the Korean Peninsula. Additionally, the defense chiefs agreed to establish a "Defense Science and Technology Executive Committee" for guiding defense technology cooperation, prioritizing areas like autonomy, artificial intelligence, and "crewed-uncrewed" teams to modernize alliance capabilities.