South Korean President Yoon Suk-yue (right) met with visiting U.S. Secretary of Defense Austin on the 31st.
(Associated Press)
[Compilation of Chen Chengliang/Comprehensive Report] U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin (Lloyd Austin) flew to South Korea yesterday. After talks with South Korean Defense Minister Lee Jong-sub on the 31st, he held a joint press conference.
Austin said that the United States is very firm in its commitment to provide extended deterrence to South Korea, which involves all military forces including nuclear weapons, conventional weapons and anti-missile forces.
According to Yonhap News Agency, Austin revealed that the US has dispatched fifth-generation fighter jets and the USS Reagan nuclear-powered aircraft carrier strike group to South Korea, and will continue to deploy more similar strategic weapons to South Korea.
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Austin said that the United States' commitment to South Korea's defense assistance is solid, and it is the key to the United States' extended deterrence commitment to South Korea.
The two countries have exchanged views on various options for strengthening extended deterrence and will continue to cooperate on this.
The U.S. and ROK defense ministers issued a joint statement after the meeting, strongly condemning North Korea’s continued provocative actions, including missile launches and drone intrusions, which violated UN Security Council resolutions, and emphasized that the U.S. and South Korea will continue to take a tough stance.
The statement stated that the two sides also agreed to advance the revision of the "customized deterrence strategy" before this year's U.S.-South Korea security meeting; to ensure timely and coordinated deployment of U.S. strategic assets, and to further expand the level and scale of joint military exercises this year, including holding Large-scale joint fire drills.
The defense ministers of the two countries also decided to hold a US-Japan-ROK security meeting as soon as possible in the short term to strengthen trilateral security cooperation.
Austin arrived in Seoul on the 30th to start his visit.
(Taken from Austin Twitter)