South Korea, US to hold high-level talks on North Korea deterrence next week

Seoul, Aug 30 (IANS) South Korea and the United States will hold vice-ministerial talks in Washington next week on deterrence efforts against North Korea's nuclear and missile threats, Seoul's foreign ministry said Friday.

The ministry said in a release that the fifth meeting of the Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG) will take place Wednesday (local time), with a focus on assessing the progress on the allies' efforts to deter North Korea's military threats, Yonhap news agency reported.

The talks will also address ways to bolster coordination between the two countries to enhance the "extended deterrence" against the North in light of the current security landscape, the ministry said.

Extended deterrence refers to the US commitment to mobilising all of its military capabilities, including nuclear, to defend its ally.

The talks will be led by First Vice Foreign Minister Kim Hong-kyun; Cho Chang-rae, deputy defence minister for policy; Bonnie Jenkins, US undersecretary of state for arms control and international security; and Cara Abercrombie, acting deputy undersecretary of defence for policy.

The EDSCG dialogue was resumed in September 2022, more than four years after it was suspended under the previous Moon Jae-in government amid the former liberal president's rapprochement efforts with Pyongyang.

President Yoon Suk Yeol and US President Joe Biden agreed to reactivate the talks during their May summit in 2022 as part of joint efforts to address the North's evolving nuclear and missile threats.