US, South Korea revise deterrence strategy, boost drills over North Korea threat

SEOUL - South Korea and the United States on Monday revised a bilateral security agreement aimed at deterring

North Korea’s advancing nuclear and missile threats

, and vowed to maintain pressure on Pyongyang despite global distractions.

The Tailored Deterrence Strategy (TDS) is aimed at countering North Korea’s nuclear weapons and other arms, according to an announcement on the agreement by the two countries 10 years ago.

South Korea’s Defence Minister Shin Won-sik and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin signed the updated agreement at the security talks in Seoul, the Defence Ministry said.

The revision was considered necessary because the existing strategy did not adequately address rapid advancements in North Korea’s missile and nuclear programmes, it said.

The Defence Ministry did not immediately specify what had been updated in the deal, which holds that the United States will use strategic military assets, including nuclear forces, to defend its allies.

First established in 2010, the TDS has taken on greater significance as North Korea pushes ahead with its ballistic missile and nuclear programmes.

Earlier, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said Mr Shin and Mr Austin would discuss jointly countering threats by North Korea, including through executing an “extended deterrence” strategy.

The two leaders also said they agreed to boost joint drills, as well as cooperation with Japan, to deter and better prepare for any North Korean attack.

Mr Austin said recent visits by a US nuclear ballistic missile submarine and a B-52 to South Korea were “milestones” in deterrence efforts, and that the tempo of such deployments could continue despite other global crises.

“We will continue to do the things that we’ve promised to do,” Mr Austin said, adding that over the past year the US military had deployed more to the Indo-Pacific region than in the past and was “more capable to respond to anything that could happen”.

In 2023, South Korea and the US have deepened nuclear planning discussions to better coordinate an allied nuclear response during a war.

Recent changes in North Korean and Chinese capabilities and intentions are likely to “dramatically” increase the risk that US and South Korean deterrence could fail within the next decade, and the allies must undertake major steps to strengthen deterrence, the Atlantic Council think-tank said in a study last week.

That study, which convened more than 100 experts, found that although an all-out nuclear attack is the least likely scenario, Pyongyang could feel emboldened to escalate with more limited military actions, including possible nuclear strikes.

The

Israel-Hamas war

and

Russia’s invasion of Ukraine

also cast a shadow over Monday’s meeting, amid Pyongyang’s growing military cooperation with Moscow and questions about North Korea’s support for Hamas militants.

“Despite conflicts that are happening in many parts of the world, our alliance is the most powerful alliance in history and in the world,” Mr Shin said at the briefing.

He noted that recent live fire drills were the largest in the allies’ history, and that boosting joint exercises would ensure that North Korea can be punished “immediately and powerfully” if it attacks.

On Sunday, South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol said at a dinner that the allies must stand ready for any provocations by North Korea, including a “Hamas-style surprise attack”.

At the reception, Mr Austin reaffirmed that US commitment to defending South Korea involved the full range of American military capabilities, Mr Yoon’s office said.

The region is concerned about the focus of Washhington, said Ms Bonnie Glaser, an Asia expert at the German Marshall Fund of the United States.

“We’re involved in two wars,” Ms Glaser said. “And then a second layer of concern... is our presidential election (in 2024), and whether this emphasis on the Indo-Pacific and an emphasis on cooperating with allies, building these coalitions, whether that’s really going to be sustained.”

The defence meeting comes as North Korea is believed to be

preparing to launch a military reconnaissance satellite

after two failures.

Pyongyang is accused of shipping munitions to Russia in return for military technology support to help the North’s weapons programmes.

Russian President Vladimir Putin said at a recent summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un that

Russia would help North Korea

build satellites, but did not elaborate.

Meanwhile, the defence chiefs of South Korea, Japan and the US agreed on Sunday to start a

real-time data sharing scheme on North Korean missiles

in December, South Korea’s Defence Ministry said.

“We’re seeing more trilateral cooperation than we’ve ever seen,” Mr Austin told a briefing on Monday, hinting at announcements in the coming weeks. REUTERS