S. Korea, U.S. defense chiefs to hold annual security talks amid N.K.'s troop dispatch to Russia

이민지 / 2024-10-25 11:24:56

S Korea-US-security meeting

▲ Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun holds phone talks with his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, in this file photo provided by Kim's office on Sept. 13, 2024. (PHOTO NOT FOR SALE) (Yonhap)

S Korea-US-security meeting

S. Korea, U.S. defense chiefs to hold annual security talks amid N.K.'s troop dispatch to Russia

By Lee Minji

SEOUL, Oct. 25 (Yonhap) -- The defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States will hold their annual bilateral security meeting in Washington, D.C., next week to discuss North Korea's troop dispatch to Russia and joint deterrence against the North's threats, Seoul's defense ministry said Friday.

Defense Minister Kim Yong-hyun and his U.S. counterpart, Lloyd Austin, are set to hold the 56th Security Consultative Meeting on Wednesday (local time). The meeting will mark their first in-person talks since Kim took office last month.

This year's meeting comes at a sensitive time when Seoul and Washington have confirmed the deployment of North Korean troops to Russia to fight alongside Moscow in its war against Ukraine, heightening concerns over their deepening military cooperation.

A White House official confirmed Wednesday that North Korea sent at least 3,000 troops to eastern Russia earlier this month, while South Korea's spy agency expects the North to send a total of some 10,000 troops to Russia by December.

In the meeting, Kim and Austin are expected to assess the security situation on the Korean Peninsula following the North's troop deployment, and discuss their policy cooperation over the issue as well as ways to strengthen the allies' extended deterrence and combined defense posture, according to the ministry.

Also expected to be discussed in the talks are bilateral cooperation in the areas of defense technology and the arms industry as well as their trilateral security cooperation, also involving Japan, it said.

During his stay in the U.S., Kim plans to lay a wreath at a Korean War memorial and visit a research institution on manned-unmanned teaming technology.

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