S. Korea, US agree to discuss all steps against N. Korea in advance

Top security advisers of South Korea and the United States agreed Friday to discuss in advance any steps they could take to contain provocative North Korea, Seoul's presidential office Cheong Wa Dae said, apparently suggesting the U.S. will not pre-emptively strike the communist North without informing Seoul beforehand.

The agreement came at a telephone conversation between Chung Eui-yong, the head of South Korea's Presidential National Security Office, and his U.S. counterpart H.R. McMaster.

The two "discussed current security conditions surrounding the Korean Peninsula caused by North Korean provocations and heightened tension, and ways to deal with such threats," Cheong Wa Dae spokesman Park Soo-hyun told a press briefing.

"The two sides reaffirmed their promise to closely and transparently cooperate on the steps to be taken in each stage to help ensure the security and safety of both South Korea, the United States and their people.” (Yonhap)