US and South Korea update strategy to deter DPRK

US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Shin Won-sik attend a welcoming ceremony in Seoul on November 13.

Yonhap news agency reported on November 13 that South Korea and the United States updated their joint deterrence strategy against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) at their annual security dialogue, in an effort to deal with missile and nuclear threats from Pyongyang.

At the 55th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin signed a document revising the Tailored Deterrence Strategy (TDS), the first revision since its introduction in 2013 following North Korea's third nuclear test.

The United States and South Korea have been working to update the key military document to better reflect North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, as Pyongyang has conducted six nuclear tests and legislated for the right to use preemptive nuclear strikes in self-defense.

Secretary Austin reaffirmed the US's "extended deterrence" commitment to using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend South Korea.

Minister Shin said the increased deployment of US strategic assets to South Korea this year, including the first port call by a nuclear submarine in more than 40 years and the first landing of a B-52 strategic bomber, has helped increase the credibility of the US extended deterrence commitment.

Secretary Austin is scheduled to attend the first defense ministerial meeting between South Korea and the 17-member United Nations Command (UNC) on November 14, before traveling to Indonesia. The UNC was established in 1950 and oversaw the implementation of the armistice that ended the Korean War (1950-1953).

Responding to the news, North Korea repeated its call to dissolve the UNC, calling the upcoming meeting "dangerous."

Calling the UNC a "tool of war," the North Korean Foreign Ministry's Institute for Peace and Disarmament Studies issued a statement saying the security situation on the Korean peninsula has been pushed into a "war-oriented structure" by the US and relevant parties.

According to the South Korean Defense Ministry , the participants in the November 14 meeting are expected to call on North Korea to end its "illegal activities" and comply with UN Security Council resolutions, and adopt a joint statement calling for a collective response in case of an unexpected situation on the peninsula.

South Korea's Unification Ministry has criticized North Korea's latest statement as a reiteration of its "unrealistic" demand to disband the UNC. Ministry spokesman Koo Byoung-sam said the UNC is "a model of international solidarity as it has played a vital role in preserving South Korea's freedom and peace for the past 70 years."

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