The US and South Korea yesterday updated a bilateral security agreement with the aim of more effectively countering North Korea’s evolving nuclear and missile threats.
The move followed high-level military talks in Seoul, where the allies also discussed enhancing three-way defense exercises with Japan and improving information-sharing on North Korean missile launches.
US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin was in Seoul for annual security talks with South Korean military officials, including Minister of Defense Shin Won-sik, which were focused on boosting nuclear deterrence against North Korea.
Photo: AP, South Korean Ministry of National Defense
They also talked about how the allies could coordinate over broader geopolitical issues, including Russia’s war on Ukraine and China’s regional assertiveness, Austin said.
Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as the pace of both North Korea’s weapons tests and South Korea’s combined military exercises with the US have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.
During their Security Consultative Meeting, Austin and Shin signed a new version of their countries’ Tailored Deterrence Strategy agreement, which was revised for the first time in a decade to address the growing threat of the North’s military nuclear program.
Shin said the new document spells out that the US would mobilize its full range of military capabilities, including nuclear ones, to defend the South in the event of a North Korean nuclear attack.
The document will provide a template for the allies to strategize how South Korea could assist US nuclear operations in such events with its conventional capabilities, he said, without elaborating.
“Our deterrence commitment to the ROK [Republic of Korea] remains ironclad — that includes a full range of our nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities,” Austin said at a news conference.
The US deployments of major military assets to South Korea in recent months, which included a US nuclear ballistic missile submarine, a nuclear-capable B-52 bomber and aircraft carriers, demonstrated the US’ commitment to defense of the South, he said, adding that another US aircraft carrier battle group is to travel to the region soon in a further show of force.
Shin said the allies, after conducting their largest-ever live-fire training this year, would continue to further expand their combined military exercises to deter and respond to North Korean threats.
The US and the government of conservative South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol have also been strengthening their trilateral security cooperation with Japan, which has included joint military exercises and tightened defense planning, in response to North Korea’s intensifying weapons development and verbal threats of nuclear conflict.
Arriving in South Korea over the weekend, Austin earlier met Shin during a three-way meeting with Japanese Minister of Defense Minoru Kihara, who participated in the talks through online video. They agreed to start as planned next month a real-time information sharing arrangement on North Korean missile launches.
They also agreed to set up multiyear plans in coming weeks to enhance their trilateral military exercises, South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said.
Austin on Sunday also met Yoon, who expressed satisfaction over the increased consultations with Washington over nuclear deterrence plans and the more frequent deployment of advanced US military assets to the Korean Peninsula in past months, which he described as crucial for keeping the North’s nuclear and missile threats in check.
Kehinde Sanni spends his days smoothing out dents and repainting scratched bumpers in a modest autobody shop in Lagos. He has never left Nigeria, yet he speaks glowingly of Burkina Faso military leader Ibrahim Traore. “Nigeria needs someone like Ibrahim Traore of Burkina Faso. He is doing well for his country,” Sanni said. His admiration is shaped by a steady stream of viral videos, memes and social media posts — many misleading or outright false — portraying Traore as a fearless reformer who defied Western powers and reclaimed his country’s dignity. The Burkinabe strongman swept into power following a coup in September 2022
‘FRAGMENTING’: British politics have for a long time been dominated by the Labor Party and the Tories, but polls suggest that Reform now poses a significant challenge Hard-right upstarts Reform UK snatched a parliamentary seat from British Prime Minister Keir Starmer’s Labor Party yesterday in local elections that dealt a blow to the UK’s two establishment parties. Reform, led by anti-immigrant firebrand Nigel Farage, won the by-election in Runcorn and Helsby in northwest England by just six votes, as it picked up gains in other localities, including one mayoralty. The group’s strong showing continues momentum it built up at last year’s general election and appears to confirm a trend that the UK is entering an era of multi-party politics. “For the movement, for the party it’s a very, very big
A new online voting system aimed at boosting turnout among the Philippines’ millions of overseas workers ahead of Monday’s mid-term elections has been marked by confusion and fears of disenfranchisement. Thousands of overseas Filipino workers have already cast their ballots in the race dominated by a bitter feud between President Ferdinand Marcos Jr and his impeached vice president, Sara Duterte. While official turnout figures are not yet publicly available, data from the Philippine Commission on Elections (COMELEC) showed that at least 134,000 of the 1.22 million registered overseas voters have signed up for the new online system, which opened on April 13. However,
ENTERTAINMENT: Rio officials have a history of organizing massive concerts on Copacabana Beach, with Madonna’s show drawing about 1.6 million fans last year Lady Gaga on Saturday night gave a free concert in front of 2 million fans who poured onto Copacabana Beach in Rio de Janeiro for the biggest show of her career. “Tonight, we’re making history... Thank you for making history with me,” Lady Gaga told a screaming crowd. The Mother Monster, as she is known, started the show at about 10:10pm local time with her 2011 song Bloody Mary. Cries of joy rose from the tightly packed fans who sang and danced shoulder-to-shoulder on the vast stretch of sand. Concert organizers said 2.1 million people attended the show. Lady Gaga
RSS