Page 206 - 2020 Defence White Paper

alliance that contributes to peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula as well as
the region and the world. The scope of alliance cooperation is broadening to cover
new areas including cyber, space, the defense industry, science and technology,
and maritime security; regionally, it is expanding its cooperation to Northeast
Asia and global security issues. As seen through the activation of the ROK–
US cooperative system in response to the global spread of COVID-19 in 2020,
the two countries are continuously enhancing defense cooperation to respond to
transnational and nonmilitary threats by conducting peacekeeping activities and
anti-piracy operations, providing support for stabilization and reconstruction
efforts, humanitarian assistance, and disaster relief, and suggesting regional security
cooperation initiatives.
In particular, to ensure effective joint responses to the increasing threats in the space
domain, the two sides are holding close cooperation in areas such as SSA information
sharing, professional manpower exchanges, and combined exercises in the space
domain. The ROK and the US are shaping such efforts through the ROK–US defense
space cooperation consultative working-level meeting launched in 2013. At the 15th
meeting in 2020, the two countries agreed to the continuous development of the
current exchange areas and the deepening of their cooperation through initiatives
such as conducting a study on establishing the ROK–US joint space policy direction.
Likewise in the field of defense science and technology and the defense industry,
the ROK and the US are committed to strengthening their cooperation on the
complementary use of comparative advantages between the two countries. To
this end, several high-level regular consultative meetings, such as the Defense

Technology and Industrial Cooperation Committee (DTICC), Defense Technology
Security Consultative Meeting (DTSCM), Security Cooperation Committee (SCC),
and Logistics Cooperation Committee (LCC), are operated by the two countries.
In the future, the ROK MND and the US DoD will continue their diplomatic
efforts for the denuclearization of North Korea and the establishment of permanent
peace on the Korean Peninsula. As global partners, the two countries will further
develop the robustness of the ROK–US alliance in a mutually complementary and
future-oriented manner to protect their security interests in Northeast Asia as well as
the global realm.

2. Maintaining a Firm ROK–US Combined Defense Posture

Even during the process of exerting efforts to ease tensions and build confidence

204 2020 Defense White Paper