Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

Reconfirmed stable Korea-U.S. alliance responds to North Korea

The U.S. Department of Defense has reconfirmed its pledge to defend Korea, stating that any attacks on the U.S. or its allies would be defeated, and in the event that nuclear weapons were used, the U.S. would respond effectively and overwhelmingly.

Korea and the U.S. Department of Defense highlighted their stable alliance at the 10th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) held on September 12 and 13.

Both strongly condemned North Korea's 5th nuclear experiment at the dialogue, and also urged North Korea to give up its entire nuclear program in a complete, verifiable, and irreversible way.

At the main Deterrence Strategy Committee (DSC) meeting, as a part of KIDD, attendees discussed the various ways to deploy Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) during early-stage attacks in order to enhance the Korea-U.S. alliance's ability to defend North Korea’s missile threats.

Both sides said that THAAD, as a pure self-defense measure, would be operated against North Korea alone, and this was the one action that would be used to protect both the Korean people and the alliance. In this way, the alliance has emphasized its critical role in contributing to multi-layered missile defense.

By Chul-Hwan, Kim < droid001@dema.mil.kr >
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