By Jun Ji-hye
South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo and U.S. Defense Secretary Ash Carter will meet in Seoul Monday to discuss nuclear and missile threats from North Korea, according to the Ministry of National Defense, Thursday.
The two defense chiefs will lead the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), in which defense and foreign affairs officials from the two countries will discuss ways to jointly cope with the North as well as follow-up measures for their decision last year to delay South Korea’s takeover of wartime operational control (OPCON) of its troops from the U.S.
“The allies will discuss the North’s test-firing of a submarine-launched ballistic missile in May and its showcase of modified KN-08 missiles during a military parade in October to mark the 70th anniversary of the ruling Workers’ Party,” a ministry official told reporters on the condition of anonymity.
During the parade, the repressive state displayed the KN-08 intercontinental ballistic missiles (ICBM) with round-shaped nose cones, presumed to be modified from the same kind of missile with a pointed cone displayed in the parade in 2013. This led to speculation that the North might be capable of building a nuclear weapon small enough to fit on its ICBMs.
The SCM is the allies’ annual defense talks. In October of last year, Minister Han visited the U.S. for the talks where the decision on the condition-based delay of the OPCON transfer was made.
During this year’s meeting, Han and Carter may approve the so-called “4D” (detect, disrupt, destroy and defense) operation to cope with the North’s ballistic missile threats.
“The two nations will also reaffirm the need for establishing the Kill Chain preemptive strike and Korean Air and Missile Defense (KAMD) system by the mid-2020s against the North’s missile,” the official said.
The ministry noted that other topics of discussion will include trilateral defense cooperation with Japan, such as the sharing of sensitive military intelligence.
A day before the talks between the defense chiefs, ROK Joint Chiefs of Staff Chairman Gen. Lee Sun-jin and his U.S. counterpart Gen. Joseph Dunford will hold the annual Military Committee Meeting, the ministry added.
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