Hwang, Trump agree to strengthen deterrence against N.Korea
By Kim Rahn
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Acting President Hwang Kyo-ahn
Acting President and Prime Minister Hwang Kyo-ahn and U.S. President Donald Trump have reaffirmed the need to strengthen the allies’ defense posture against North Korea, according to the government, Tuesday.
Hwang and Trump spoke over the phone that day and condemned the North’s ballistic missile launches, Monday.
The phone conversation was made a day after the two countries began deploying a U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery in South Korea by bringing in the first batch of elements for the system.
During the 20-minute conversation, the leaders agreed that the two countries need to strengthen their posture against the North, by actions such as sanctions and joint military drills, so that North Korea will give up its nuclear ambitions, according to Hwang’s office.
They concluded the test-firing of the missiles was “a violation of the U.N. Security Council resolutions and a provocation against the international community.”
“Hwang said North Korea’s nuclear weapons are a direct threat to both South Korea and the U.S., adding the two countries should bolster their deterrence forces,” the office said in a press release. “In response, Trump said he agreed, adding the U.S. government has supported and will support South Korea 100 percent.”
The two countries began airlifting parts of the THAAD system here late Monday, hours after the North’s test-firing of the missiles. The deployment began earlier than expected, and the Ministry of National Defense said it was aimed at countering the North’s continuous provocations and upgraded missile technology.
The two leaders also agreed on the need for closer cooperation on North Korea issues through discussions at high-level meetings.
It was their second phone conversation, following the one at the end of January, when the two also reaffirmed the importance of the alliance to cope with North Korea’s nuclear ambitions.
Before talking to Hwang, Trump had a phone conversation with Japanese Prime Minister Shinzo Abe and agreed to hold a meeting between foreign affairs and defense ministers of the two countries to address North Korea’s provocations.
Meanwhile, North Korea said Tuesday its ballistic missile launch the previous day was an exercise targeting U.S. military bases in Japan.
The Korean Central News Agency, the North’s state media, said a missile unit, tasked to strike the U.S. bases in Japan, conducted the drill to review its capacity to handle nuclear warheads. The missile firings seemed to be in response to an ongoing South Korea-U.S. joint military drill, which the North criticized as a rehearsal for war against it.
It fired four ballistic missiles, which appeared to be Scud-ERs, an upgraded version of the short-range Scud-C missile, into the East Sea, according to the Joint Chiefs of Staff. They flew more than 1,000 kilometers and three of them landed in Japan’s exclusive economic zone (EEZ).
Analysts say the missiles may target major U.S. bases in Japan, namely Sasebo, Yokosuka, Iwakuni and Okinawa, considering the missile’s maximum range.
“The U.S. strategic assets deployed to South Korea come mostly from U.S. bases in Japan,” Prof. Kim Dong-yub at the Institute for Far Eastern Studies said. “It seems North Korea fired four missiles at a time to show that it can attack the four bases simultaneously.”