Defense minister renews vow to respond 'sternly' to any N. Korean provocation

By Song Sang-ho

WASHINGTON, Nov. 2 (Yonhap) -- South Korea's Defense Minister Lee Jong-sup reiterated Wednesday that Seoul and Washington will respond "sternly" to any North Korean provocations, after a barrage of the recalcitrant regime's missile and artillery firings hours earlier.

Lee made the remarks during a keynote speech in a meeting with experts at the Council on Foreign Relations on the eve of annual South Korea-U.S. defense ministerial talks, called the Security Consultative Meeting, at the Pentagon.

On Wednesday (Korea time), the North fired more than 20 missiles and 100 artillery shells. One of the missiles landed south of the Northern Limit Line (NLL), the de facto inter-Korean sea border, for the first time since the end of the 1950-53 Korean War.

"South Korea and the U.S. are responding jointly (to Wednesday's launches) based on a firm combined defense posture, and will respond sternly to any North Korean provocations," Lee was quoted as saying during the meeting.

Lee called the missile launch across the NLL "practically an encroachment on South Korean territory."

Touching on growing public angst about the threat of North Korea's potential use of nuclear weapons, the minister said Seoul and Washington have been in close consultation to forge public confidence that the U.S.' extended deterrence would work "at any moment."

Extended deterrence means America's commitment to mobilizing a full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear options, to defend its ally.

In addition, Lee pointed out that stability on the Korean Peninsula is "inseparable" from that of the Indo-Pacific region.

"The minister stressed that the North's nuclear and missile capabilities and threats of its provocations pose a direct challenge to peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific beyond the Korean Peninsula," his office said in a press release.

sshluck@yna.co.kr
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