The United States and South Korea are working to strengthen their joint defense capabilities against North Korea's evolving threats, U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said Tuesday.

In his opening remarks in a Senate armed services committee hearing on a defense budget request, Austin also reaffirmed U.S. commitment to providing extended deterrence to South Korea.

"We continue to shore up security on the Korean Peninsula despite the DPRK's provocations, including through bilateral and trilateral cooperation," he said.

DPRK stands for the Democratic People's Republic of Korea, North Korea's official name.

"We will continue to stand with our allies, the Republic of Korea (ROK) and Japan," Austin added, referring to South Korea by its official name.

"We remain steadfast and ironclad in our extended deterrence commitments to the ROK and Japan, and we continue to demonstrate our ability to respond rapidly and firmly to any DPRK provocation."

North Korea conducted a series of missiles tests this year, following its unprecedented 69 ballistic missile launches in 2022 that marked a new annual record of such missiles fired in a single year.

Pyongyang also recently threatened to use its nuclear weapons against South Korea and the U.S. should they continue to push for the complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the North, or CVID.

"We are working with the ROK to ensure that our combined forces are able to deter the DPRK, and help ensure peace and stability in Northeast Asia, including by returning our defensive exercises to historical norms," Austin told the Senate hearing.

"We are working to strengthen and modernize our alliances with the ROK and Japan, and will continue to ensure that our forces in and around the Korean Peninsula are ready to 'Fight Tonight' in the event of DPRK aggression," the defense secretary added.

Source: Yonhap News Agency