US pledges to support South Korea with nuclear capabilities

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said Washington is ready to support Seoul with both nuclear and non-nuclear military capabilities.

During the 56th US-ROK Security Consultative Meeting at the Pentagon on October 30, South Korean Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and his US counterpart Lloyd Austin agreed to implement a new Regional Cooperation Framework in many areas such as maritime security, multilateral exercises, capacity building, technical cooperation, defense industry and information sharing.

US Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin and his South Korean counterpart Kim Yong-hyun hold a press conference at the Pentagon on October 30, 2024.

According to RT, quoting Mr. Austin, to prevent and deal with threats on the Korean peninsula, the US and South Korea need to agree to maintain a common defense posture, participate in close coordination and response.

"I assured Secretary Kim that the United States remains fully committed to the defense of the Republic of Korea and is committed to extended deterrence. That commitment is backed by the full range of advanced U.S. conventional, nuclear, and non-nuclear missile defense capabilities," said Secretary Austin.

For his part, Minister Kim confirmed that the two sides plan to establish a vice-ministerial-level defense science and technology executive committee in 2024 to research and apply advanced science and technology in the defense field.

North Korea launches ICBM, Kim Jong-un affirms to strengthen nuclear arsenal

The new committee, called DSTEC, will explore ways to connect South Korea and several projects in Pillar 2 of the AUKUS (US-UK-Australia) trilateral partnership to accelerate emerging and innovative military capabilities.

In another development, the South Korean Foreign Ministry on October 31 announced export controls on materials needed to produce solid-fuel missiles to limit North Korea's ballistic missile development.

South Korea's foreign ministry said the export controls would cover 15 items that North Korea would have difficulty producing on its own, such as aircraft fuselages and combustion tubes.

Source: https://thanhnien.vn/my-cam-ket-ho-tro-han-quoc-bang-nang-luc-hat-nhan-185241031165115695.htm