SEOUL: South Korea and the United States have mapped out a new strategy to counter the growing threat of a North Korean nuclear or chemical weapons attack, their defence ministers said yesterday.
They also agreed to review the sensitive issue of when Seoul should assume operational wartime command over their combined forces in South Korea.
Visiting US Defence Secretary Chuck Hagel said the new pact signed with his South Korean counterpart Kim Kwan-Jin established a “strategic framework” for dealing with “key North Korean nuclear threat scenarios” in the wake of its third atomic test in February. Although neither side provided details, Kim said the plan -- which is certain to be condemned by North Korea -- would “greatly enhance” the alliance’s deterrence capacity.
Observers said it was largely a confidence-building measure to underline Washington’s support for Seoul against any provocation from Pyongyang.
South Korea is protected by the US nuclear umbrella and there are currently nearly 30,000 US troops stationed in the country.
But Seoul insists that the alliance must respond to what Kim described as the “vastly different” security situation on the Korean peninsula following the North’s nuclear test.
To that end, it has requested an extension of US wartime command over South Korean troops -- currently scheduled to end in 2015.
In case of war with North Korea, the alliance at present calls for the US military commander to lead the US troops deployed to the country, as well as South Korea’s 640,000-strong force. Seoul argues that the transition to South Korean command should be postponed until the nuclear threat from Pyongyang has been neutralised.
Washington has indicated it wants to keep to the original schedule, but Hagel said he had listened “very seriously” to Seoul’s concerns and promised further consultations on the issue.
AFP
