Washington: The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States have issued a strong condemnation of North Korea's recent troop deployment to Russia. This statement was made during the allies' annual defense talks held at the Pentagon, reflecting the growing concerns over the escalation of Russia's war in Ukraine. According to Yonhap News Agency, South Korea's Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin voiced their concerns at the 56th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM). They confirmed the troop deployment and expressed fears about its potential implications. The SCM joint communique emphasized that the military cooperation between Russia and North Korea has now extended beyond mere transfers of military supplies to the deployment of forces. Both leaders stressed the need for coordination with the international community on this issue. Kim and Austin also highlighted that such military cooperation, including arms trade and high-technology transfers, represents a clear vio lation of U.N. Security Council resolutions. They urged Russia to adhere to its international commitments. The meeting followed Washington's claims that North Korea has dispatched approximately 10,000 troops to eastern Russia, with some reportedly moving closer to Ukraine, raising security concerns for both the Indo-Pacific region and Europe. During the talks, the defense chiefs agreed on incorporating realistic scenarios, including a potential North Korean nuclear attack, into future combined military exercises. This suggests that Seoul and Washington may include such scenarios in their joint wartime contingency plans. The statement emphasized the importance of strengthening combined exercises and training in response to the rapidly changing security environment on the Korean Peninsula. The statement did not specify when these scenarios would be implemented, but it indicated the likelihood of adding nuclear-based scenarios to the wartime operational plans of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command (CF C). Despite relying on conventional warfare scenarios, Seoul remains dependent on Washington's "extended deterrence" commitment to counter North Korean nuclear threats. Recent developments, including North Korea's disclosure of a clandestine uranium enrichment facility and threats from Leader Kim Jong-un regarding the use of nuclear arms, have heightened tensions in the region. Kim and Austin also addressed the Northern Limit Line (NLL), urging North Korea to respect the inter-Korean maritime border, which Pyongyang has criticized as lacking legal grounds. Notably, this year's SCM document did not mention the allies' long-standing goal of achieving complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, a departure from previous communiques. The defense chiefs condemned North Korea's provocative actions, such as drone infiltrations and detonation of inter-Korean roads, urging an immediate cessation of such activities. The two officials also endorsed a "Regional Cooperation Framework for U.S.-ROK Alliance Contri butions to Security in the Indo-Pacific," aiming to expand the scope of their alliance beyond the Korean Peninsula. They agreed to establish a "Defense Science and Technology Executive Committee" to guide and prioritize defense technology cooperation, focusing on areas like autonomy and artificial intelligence to modernize alliance capabilities.