South Korea, US hold defence talks to cope with North Korea threats

Senior defense and foreign policy officials of South Korea and the United States held talks in Washington on Monday as the two allies seek to cope better with growing nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, Yonhap news agency reported Tuesday.

The Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue brought together Deputy Defense Minister Yoo Jeh-seung and Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear, along with Abraham Denmark, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, and Elaine Bunn, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear and missile defense policy.

Also in attendance for the two days of talks at the Pentagon set to conclude on Tuesday were Amb. Sung Kim, US special representative for North Korea policy, and the South Korean foreign ministry's director-general for North America, Yeo Seung-bae.

A Pentagon official confirmed the meeting started, but declined to discuss details.

But officials in Seoul have said that the talks would focus on fleshing out the so-called "4D" capabilities to detect, disrupt, destroy and defend against the North's potential nuclear and missile attacks.

The two sides were also expected to discuss ways to prepare for the conditions-based transfer of the wartime operational control of South Korean forces from Washington to Seoul. The sides agreed in 2014 to postpone the transfer, which had been set for last year, until the South bolsters capabilities to cope with the North on its own.

Officials have also said this week's talks are not expected to take up the issue of the potential deployment of the US THAAD missile defense system as the sides have been discussing it through a joint working group formed to exclusively handle the matter.

Source: MENA