(LEAD) S. Korea, U.S. hold key high-level deterrence talks on N. Korea's nuclear threats

All News 22:58 September 16, 2022

(ATTN: UPDATES with Cho's remarks in 6th para; RECASTS 2nd para; CHANGES photo)
By Song Sang-ho

SEOUL, Sept. 16 (Yonhap) -- A key high-level deterrence dialogue of South Korea and the United States opened in Washington, D.C., on Friday, following a nearly five-year hiatus, in a culmination of their accelerating joint efforts to counter North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.

The Extended Deterrence Strategy and Consultation Group (EDSCG), a gathering of the allies' vice-ministerial defense officials and diplomats, took place in the U.S. capital amid concerns about the possibility of Pyongyang carrying out a nuclear test or other provocative acts.

The EDSCG had not been held since its second and last session in January 2018, when the then liberal Moon Jae-in administration pushed for an initiative to promote inter-Korean rapprochement and cooperation.

Seoul's vice defense and foreign ministers -- Shin Beom-chul and Cho Hyun-dong, respectively -- attended the session, with the U.S. represented by Colin Kahl, undersecretary of defense for policy, and Bonnie Jenkins, undersecretary of state for arms control and international security.

The high-profile event came a week after the North revealed its codification of an assertive nuclear policy that leaves open the possibility of a preemptive strike to be unleashed in case of a regime security threat.

In his opening remarks, Vice Foreign Minister Cho said the EDSCG session itself would send a "strong" message to Pyongyang, as he decried its nuclear and missile programs as a "serious threat" to peace on the Korean Peninsula and in the overall Indo-Pacific region.

The EDSCG is meant to discuss ways to enhance the credibility of America's extended deterrence, its stated commitment to mobilizing a full range of military capabilities, including nuclear options to defend its ally.

The reactivation of the EDSCG followed a Seoul summit deal in May between South Korean President Yoon Suk-yeol and his U.S. counterpart, Joe Biden.

The two leaders reaffirmed "the commitment of the U.S. to deploy strategic U.S. military assets in a timely and coordinated manner as necessary, as well as to enhance such measures and identify new or additional steps to reinforce deterrence in the face of DPRK destabilizing activities," the allies' joint statement read, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.