The United States and South Korea updated this Monday, the 13th, a bilateral security agreement, with the aim of concentrating efforts on combating nuclear missile threats from North Korea. The measure comes after meetings in Seoul, with the participation of US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin, where the countries also discussed strengthening defense exercises with Japan and improving the exchange of information on North Korean missile launches. .
During the Security Consultative Meeting, Austin and South Korean Defense Minister Shin Won-sik signed a new version of the Customized Deterrence Strategy agreement, which was revised for the first time in a decade to address the growing threat from North Korean military nuclear program. The new document specifies that the US will mobilize its full range of military capabilities, including nuclear ones, to defend South Korea in the event of a nuclear attack by its northern neighbors.
Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as the pace of North Korea’s weapons tests and South Korea’s combined military exercises with the United States has intensified in a cycle of retaliation.
