Page 374 - 2018 Defense White Paper

Peninsula and the Joint Statement of President Donald J. Trump of the United States of America and
Chairman Kim Jong Un of the Democratic People’s Republic of Korea at the Singapore Summit and
abide by its obligations under existing UN Security Council resolutions. They highlighted that full
implementation of all UN Security Council resolutions would continue until we are confident about North
Korea’s complete denuclearization in a final, fully verified manner.

4. The Minister highlighted various confidence building measures the ROK is undertaking with DPRK military
authorities in order to implement the Panmunjom Declaration on Peace, Prosperity and Reunification of the
Korean Peninsula and the Pyongyang Joint Declaration of September 2018. The Secretary and the Minister
assessed that such efforts have had a positive influence on easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula. In
particular, both sides determined that the Agreement on the Implementation of the Historic Panmunjom
Declaration in the Military Domain should be implemented in a way that contributes substantively to easing
tension and establishing peace while ensuring combined readiness and committed to continue to maintain
close coordination and cooperation between U.S. and ROK defense authorities during the process of
implementation. The Secretary and the Minister assessed that United Nations Command, as the keeper
of the Armistice, has helped successfully maintain peace and security on the Korean Peninsula over the
past 65 years. Based on the inter-Korean and U.S.-DPRK Summit understandings, the Secretary and the
Minister pledged to continue to cooperate with the international community towards diplomatic efforts
aimed at building a permanent and stable peace regime on the Korean Peninsula. In addition, noting that

the Northern Limit Line (NLL) has been an effective means of separating ROK and DPRK military forces
and preventing military tension to date, the Minister expressed his expectation that the buffer zone in
the West Sea, which was agreed upon during the inter-Korean Summit in Pyongyang, would contribute
to fundamentally preventing unplanned encounters and to military confidence building in support of
establishing permanent peace on the Korean Peninsula. The Secretary shared his understanding that the
military confidence building measures are important for establishing peace on the Korean Peninsula.

5. The Secretary and the Minister assessed that the U.S.-ROK Alliance is stronger than ever, and reaffirmed
the two nations’ mutual commitment to the fundamental mission of the Alliance—to defend the ROK
through a robust combined defense posture and to enhance the mutual security of both nations under
the U.S.-ROK Mutual Defense Treaty. The Secretary and the Minister noted that U.S. forces in the ROK
have successfully played a critical role in maintaining peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula over
the past 65 years, and reaffirmed that U.S. Forces, Korea (USFK) will continue to play an important role in
preventing armed conflict on the Korean Peninsula and promoting peace and stability in Northeast Asia.
In addition, the Secretary reemphasized the commitment to maintain the current force level of USFK in

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