US military chief visits Seoul amid high military tension

By Jun Ji-hye

The Chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) Gen. Joseph Dunford visited South Korea Sunday for talks with President Moon Jae-in and defense officials here on how better to deal with tension on the Korean Peninsula following North Korea’s threats to fire its strategic missiles.

The two-day visit is part of Dunford’s tour of three Asian countries. He visited Japan before coming here, and afterward he will visit China.

“Gen. Dunford is scheduled to pay a courtesy call on President Moon Monday during which time National Security Office head Chung Eui-yong, Defense Minister Song Young-moo and Seoul’s JCS Chairman, Gen. Lee Sun-jin, will be also present,” a Cheong Wa Dae official said.

Their talks are expected to center on the latest exchange of bellicose rhetoric between North Korean leader Kim Jong-un and U.S. President Donald Trump.

Last week, the North threatened to strike areas around Guam with its missiles topped with nuclear warheads in response to President Trump’s warnings of “fire and fury.”

Trump also tweeted that Washington’s nuclear arsenal was “now stronger and more powerful than ever before.”

Gen. Dunford is also expected to reiterate Washington’s commitment to deploy the U.S. Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) system here and provide extended deterrence that backs Washington’s commitment to defend its ally by mobilizing all military capabilities, nuclear and conventional, to cope with Pyongyang’s aggression and provocations.