South Korean, U.S. defense chiefs sign new 'tailored deterrence' strategy

When asked on the issue of suspending the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, Pentagon chief Lloyd Austin replied, "We had an opportunity to exchange views on this, and we agreed to stay in close consultation going forward."

Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, left, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin shake hands at the 55th Security Consultative Meeting held at the Defense Ministry's headquarters in central Seoul on Monday. [DEFENSE MINISTRY]

The South Korean and U.S. defense chiefs updated their tailored deterrence strategy aimed at countering North Korea's nuclear and missile threats for the first time in a decade during annual security talks in Seoul on Monday.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin also announced the new "Defense Vision of the ROK-U. S. Alliance," upgraded for the first time in four years, at their 55th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), to address the two countries' most pressing priorities and establish a shared security outlook ahead of its centennial.

ROK is the acronym for the South's full name, Republic of Korea.

The two defense chiefs signed a revised bilateral "tailored deterrence strategy (TDS)," marking the first revision to the document since it was adopted in October 2013 following North Korea's third nuclear test in February of that year.

The defense chiefs "recognized that the 2023 TDS revisions render it into a flexible and robust document that serves as a strategic framework to effectively deter and respond to advancing DPRK nuclear and other WMD [weapons of mass destruction] and non-nuclear capabilities with strategic impacts," in a joint communiqué issued after the SCM.

The exact details of the revisions were not revealed as a matter of military secrecy.

But the communiqué said it "reflects guidance on ways to leverage the full range of U.S. military capabilities, including U.S. nuclear capabilities and ROK conventional capabilities, in preparation against DPRK nuclear and other WMD attacks across armistice, crisis, and wartime."

The two defense chiefs further agreed that the TDS will further strengthen the alliance's "posture and capabilities in preparation for any possible DPRK nuclear employment scenarios."

"Our deterrence commitment to the ROK remains ironclad," Austin said in a joint press conference alongside Shin on the results of their talks in the afternoon at the Defense Ministry headquarters in central Seoul. "That includes the full range of our nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities."

He said that the two sides discussed shared opportunities to strengthen the alliance "amid continued destabilizing actions by the DPRK that threaten our regional security environment as well as [Chinese] and Russian activities that undermine the rules-based international order," referring to the acronym for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"The ROK-U. S. alliance now, based on the Washington Declaration announced by the presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States, will jointly plan and execute the ROK's conventional support to U.S. nuclear operations," Shin said. "The extended deterrence will evolve into one executed together by the ROK and the U.S."

In a stern warning to North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, Shin said, "If North Korea provokes war, that will lead to the end of the Kim regime and also lead to the prosperity of the liberal democracy of the Republic of Korea."

Austin highlighted that the U.S. military deployed several strategic assets to the peninsula, including a visit to Busan by its ballistic nuclear submarine, the first such port visit in more than 40 years, and the first landing of a B-52 bomber on the Korean Peninsula last month.

Through the joint communiqué, Austin stressed that any nuclear attack by the North against the United States or its allies and partners "is unacceptable and will result in the end of the Kim regime in line with the 2022 Nuclear Posture Review declaratory policy."

The U.S. military agreed to share data from its reconnaissance satellites with South Korea in real time, expanding cooperation of the U.S. Shared Early Warning System (SEWS) to "enhance the alliance's detection capabilities against advanced North Korean missile threats."

The two sides pledged to hold simulations and tabletop exercises regularly to continue the joint planning and coordination process.

They also stressed the "importance of the international community's role in driving the complete denuclearization" of North Korea, including China and Russia, both permanent members of the UN Security Council.

Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, left, and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin take part in a signing ceremony of their newly revised tailored deterrence strategy at the Defense Ministry's headquarters in central Seoul on Monday. [DEFENSE MINISTRY]

In the two countries' new "Defense Vision" statement, the United States committed to uphold its ironclad extended deterrence commitment set out by the Washington Declaration.

"Our vision is that of a peaceful Korean Peninsula and a free and open Indo-Pacific region in which the United States and the ROK stand together at the forefront of tackling the most significant and consequential security challenges," the vision statement read.

The newly revised TDS should inform the alliance's "mutual approach to deterrence and provide a stronger and more flexible strategic framework to deter the DPRK," the statement said.

The vision also called for close consultations through the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) and the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (Edscg) and to enable joint execution and planning for South Korean conventional support to U.S. nuclear operations in a contingency to enhance deterrence capabilities against the North. The two sides will also increase the scale and scope of combined exercises and training, including combined joint live-fire exercises.

South Korea and the United States launched the NCG in July, following up on the Washington Declaration signed by President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden during their bilateral summit in April.

The vision also called for modernized capabilities to strengthen their combined defense architecture, including the "systematic and stable" transition of wartime operational control (Opcon) to South Korea. The United States said it supports the South Korean vision to increase its contributions to the Indo-Pacific as a global pivotal state.

Austin endorsed the defense vision as a "blueprint preparing the future 100 years of the alliance, beyond the past 70 years," reflecting the alliance's intention to become a global comprehensive strategic alliance.

Shin said in the press conference regarding the TDS that over the past 10 years, "The greatest difference is that North Korea has greatly advanced its nuclear capabilities, and the second is the outcome of the Washington Declaration led to the launching of the NCG."

Through utilizing such agreements, he said, "We have now included the U.S. nuclear forces which were exempted in the past."

He added that "it is significant that this item is now in the range of the discussion between the two countries," noting that if in the past, the TDS used to be "based on concepts," the two sides are "now at a stage where we can jointly plan and execute combined exercises as well."

Austin noted that the Camp David summit in August further advanced the trilateral security cooperation with Japan. He said the three countries' defense chiefs deepened three-way cooperation in Sunday's videoconference meeting by "operationalizing trilateral real-time missile warning data sharing system to respond to North Korean nuclear and missile threats jointly."

The Pentagon chief assessed that the UN Command has "successfully fulfilled its role" of implementing, managing and executing the armistice agreement that ended the 1950-53 Korean War, deterring North Korean aggression and coordinating multilateral contributions for security on the peninsula.

When asked by a reporter during the press conference if the two sides discussed the issue of suspending the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement, Austin replied, "We had an opportunity to exchange views on this, and we agreed to stay in close consultation going forward."

The inter-Korean comprehensive military agreement aimed at reducing border tensions was signed on Sept. 19, 2018, during former President Moon Jae-in and North Korean leader Kim's third summit in Pyongyang.

Shin has previously vowed to scrap the agreement, saying it hinders South Korea's surveillance capabilities against the North.

The SCM was launched in 1968 and is an annual consultative body that deals in large with current issues of the ROK-U. S. alliance in the military and security fields, such as the situation on the Korean Peninsula and combined defense posture.

President Yoon on Sunday called on South Korea and the United States to maintain a combined defense posture to immediately punish North Korea in the case of any miscalculation and provocations, including a Hamas-style surprise attack in a dinner meeting with Austin and U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff Gen. Charles Q. Brown, Jr. at the presidential residence in Seoul.

Wrapping his three-day visit to Seoul, Austin will attend the inaugural defense ministerial meeting of South Korea and the United Nations Command member states on Tuesday.

BY SARAH KIM [kim.sarah@joongang.co.kr]