Ministry of National Defense Republic of Korea

First conference between Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo

and U.S. Defense Minister Ashton Carter

 

 

 

On April 10, the Korean and U.S. defense ministers met each other for the first time after U.S. Defense Minister Ashton Carter’s inauguration to discuss pending issues, and visited the Cheonan ship to honor the victims.

 

Having an hour-long conference at the MND office building in Yongsan-gu, Seoul, both sides agreed that North Korea’s cyber hacking and critical broadcasting toward the South and threats are serious provocative behavior. They also gathered opinions to consider response plans against North Korean threats and manage the security situation more stably under close cooperation between Korea and the U.S.

 

During a joint news conference held right after the ministers’ talk, Minister Han Min-koo said, “U.S. Minister Carter declared the U.S. government and the people’s firm support and will to cooperate for the Korea-U.S. alliance as well as reaffirmed the defense pledge for Korea. He also stressed his will to carry out the U.S. rebalancing strategy in the Asia-Pacific region. I concluded that it would make a contribution to the promotion of peace and stability in the Korean Peninsula and Northeast Asia as well.”

 

He especially emphasized, related to deployment of THAAD, that the U.S. government has not yet made any decision and there was no discussion about the matter between both countries.

 

“We are going to have further discussion to strengthen the comprehensive alliance, responding to North Korean nuclear and ballistic missile threats,” he said.

 

For the cyber cooperation, Minister Han said Korea and the U.S. have been paying attention to the results of close cooperation against cyber hacking toward Sony in December and agreed to jointly respond to the North Korea and international cyber threats.

 

Related to Korea-U.S.-Japan security cooperation, he said, “I shared my view with Minister Carter about the importance of Korea-U.S.-Japan information sharing for restraining North Korean nuclear and missile provocation. We agreed on the necessity to cooperate closely to make a contribution to peace and stability in Northeast and worldwide.” And the U.S. minister said he reaffirmed his strong will for the firm alliance between both countries as well as his personal will to improve the cooperation in the space and cyber areas.

 

Regarding the North Korean nuclear and missile threats, he said, “America has honestly evaluated the effect of the increasing North Korean nuclear, weapons of mass destruction and ballistic missile threats that threaten the peace and security around the Korean Peninsula and its surroundings as well as the continental U.S. North Korea constantly shows its intention to provoke us as assumed from the recent missile-firing.”

 

He explained the U.S.’s strong, firm will for stability in the region and the combined defense for Korea, saying that they are making the best effort to invest high-tech ability and install the best systems that are adjusted to the dynamic security environment to guarantee security in the region since a deterrent and readiness must be planned and prepared for.

 

Regarding the visit to the Cheonan ship, Minister Carter said, “As the most outstanding American soldiers, American soldiers in Korea and Asia-Pacific regions represent the firm will for security and prosperity in the region, and I think the Korean people think of the victims of the Cheonan incident in the same way I view the American soldiers. As a representative of America, I promise their noble sacrifice is not forgotten for the fifth anniversary of the Cheonan incident. I promise again to bring peace and stability to Korea and the entire Asia-Pacific region.”

 

“Minister Carter’s visit to the area at first after his inauguration was to show the strong and firm alliance between Korea and the U.S. He concluded that the alliance goes smoothly to such an extent as not to have any pending issues,” an MND official said, explaining the atmosphere of the conference.

 

After the news conference, both ministers visited the 2nd Fleet and honored the victims, looking around the recovered body of the Cheonan ship.

 

Meanwhile, he made an official call on President Park Geun-hye, who was having a town hall meeting with American soldiers, and returned home via private airplane from Osan base on the morning of April 11.

 

 

By Seok-Jong, Lee < seokjong@dema.mil.kr >

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