Secretary of Protection Lloyd J. Austin III and South Korean Protection Minister Lee Jong-sup affirmed that the U.S.-South Korea alliance has been examined in battle and peace and stays rock-solid.
Austin and Lee met for the 54th Safety Consultative Assembly on the Pentagon as we speak. The boys reviewed the standing of the alliance and examined methods to make it much more interoperable and simpler in deterring North Korea.
The assembly got here after North Korea’s “unlawful and destabilizing launch of an intercontinental continental ballistic missile final evening, in addition to extra missile launches as we speak,” Austin mentioned. “I’ve consulted with Minister Lee and we have determined to increase Vigilant Storm, which is our long-scheduled, mixed coaching train to additional bolster our readiness interoperability. We’ll proceed to work intently collectively to develop choices to guard the US and our allies within the area.”
The Safety Consultative Assembly brings U.S. and South Korean protection leaders collectively to debate challenges and alternatives and to develop methods to deepen cooperation and friendship. The U.S.-South Korean Mutual Protection Treaty was signed in 1953. South Korea had been ravaged by the Korean War — begun in 1950 when North Korean troops stormed throughout the thirty eighth parallel.
South Korea is now the tenth largest financial system on this planet and a world-class army that has fought alongside the US in Vietnam and Afghanistan. “For almost seven many years, this alliance has been an anchor of peace and safety on the Korean Peninsula and throughout the broader Indo-Pacific,” Austin mentioned. “And as we speak, [South Korea] is a tremendously succesful ally and a supplier of safety within the area and a defender of the rules-based worldwide order that retains us all safe.”
North Korea was an apparent dialogue level within the assembly, and Austin reiterated that the U.S. dedication to the protection of the South Korea is “ironclad.”
He mentioned deterrence contains the complete vary of U.S. nuclear and standard and missile protection capabilities. The secretary usually speaks of built-in deterrence, and he pointed to the deployment of fifth era fighters and the go to of the plane service USS Ronald Reagan to the peninsula earlier this 12 months as examples of that prolonged deterrence.
“On the peninsula, we’re returning to large-scale workout routines to strengthen our mixed readiness and our potential to struggle tonight, if needed,” he mentioned. “We’re dedicated to constructing on these efforts to strengthen built-in deterrence and to make sure that this alliance continues to bolster safety and stability on the Korean Peninsula and all through the Indo-Pacific.”
In his remarks, Minister Lee pressured the “robustness of the ROK [South Korea]-U.S. army alliance and the steadfastness of the mixed protection posture.”
Lee additionally addressed North Korean threats from nuclear weapons “Secretary Austin and I affirm that any nuclear assault by [North Korea] together with the usage of tactical nuclear weapons is unacceptable and [will] outcome ultimately of Kim Jong Un regime by the overwhelming and decisive response of the alliance,” he mentioned by a translator.
The USA and South Korea need North Korea to show away from its harmful path.
The 2 protection leaders additionally spoke about trilateral talks that embrace Japan, Lee mentioned.
“For many years, U.S. and [South Korean] service members have fought side-by-side to defend the beliefs of freedom,” Austin mentioned. “This alliance is based on that shared sacrifice. So, we are going to confront the challenges of the longer term the identical means that we’ve got for almost 70 years — by standing shoulder-to-shoulder as proud allies. I am enormously happy with what we have completed collectively, and I am very grateful for the Republic of Korea’s [South Korea’s] partnership.”