Kerry says U.S. will do everything to defend S. Korea, Carter warns N. Korea to make no mistake

By Chang Jae-soon WASHINGTON, Oct. 19 (Yonhap) -- U.S. Secretary of State John Kerry said Wednesday there should be no doubt the U.S. will do everything to defend South Korea while Defense Secretary Ash Cater warned North Korea that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an "overwhelming" response. The two top American officials made the remarks renewing the strong U.S. commitment to defense of the Asian ally at the start of "two plus two" alliance talks with South Korean Foreign Minister Yun Byung-se and Defense Minister Han Min-koo. "The DPRK's latest nuclear test and its repeated ballistic missile tests are a threat to regional stability and yet another blatant example of a violation of multiple U.N. Security Council resolutions," Kerry said at the start of "two plus two" talks that brought together the foreign and defense ministers of the two countries. "There should be no doubt that the United States will do whatever is necessary to defend ourselves and to honor the security commitments that we have made to allies, including the Republic of Korea," he said. "We will deploy as soon as possible a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense battery to our Korean ally." The top American diplomat also called for countries around the world to rigorously carry out sanctions on North Korea, stressing that the international community should make sure that the communist nation "pays a price for its dangerous actions." Defense Secretary Ash Carter also said the U.S. commitment to South Korea's defense is "unwavering." "This include our commitment to provide extended deterrence guaranteed by the full spectrum of U.S. defense capabilities," he said. "Make no mistake. Any attack on America or our allies will not only be defeated, but also any use of nuclear weapons will be met with an overwhelming and effective response." Wednesday's talks came just a few days after Pyongyang carried out a banned test Saturday of a Musudan intermediate-range ballistic missile, believed to be capable of reaching the U.S. territory of Guam, about a month after its fifth nuclear test. The test was unsuccessful as the missile exploded shortly after take-off, but the launch still showed how committed the North is to developing nuclear-armed, long-range missiles. Officials and experts have warned Pyongyang could keep conducting nuclear and missile tests in coming months. Wednesday's talks are expected to focus on ways to strengthen the U.S. "extended deterrence" protection of South Korea and to ramp up pressure on Pyongyang, including through a strong new U.N. Security Council sanctions resolution and unilateral sanctions of their own. "Extended deterrence" refers to the threat of nuclear retaliation to deter attacks on allies. The U.S. has provided extended deterrence or a "nuclear umbrella" to South Korea after withdrawing nuclear warheads from the country in the early 1990s. "We must ... institutionalize extended deterrence so as to effectively forestall the threats that are now becoming a fact of life and heighten the public sense of security. The ROK-U.S. alliance's deterrence strategy has evolved from the nuclear umbrella doctrine of 1978, to extended deterrence of today," Yun said at the start of the talks. Han said that the North's threats, if unabated, will pose a direct and real threat not only on the Korean Peninsula, but also to the U.S. and beyond, calling for measures to "promote firm, extended deterrence and build an even more robust combined readiness posture on the Korean Peninsula." On Thursday, the two sides are scheduled to hold annual defense ministers talks, known as the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), where Han and Carter are expected to discuss detailed "extended deterrence" measures, possibly including permanently deploying U.S. "strategic assets" in the South, such as nuclear-capable B-52 and B-1B bombers, F-22 stealth fighter jets and nuclear-powered, cruise-missile submarines. The U.S. has temporarily sent such strategic assets to South Korea as a show of force in the wake of the North's two nuclear tests in January and September, but perceptions have grown among South Koreans that such one-off missions are not enough at a time of unprecedented threats from the North. Permanent deployment of such military hardware is expected to reassure South Koreans of the U.S. defense commitment amid heightened security jitters that sparked calls for developing the country's own nuclear weapons or bringing U.S. nuclear bombs back into the country. Such sophisticated weapons would also serve as a strong warning against the North. In the SCM talks, the two sides are also expected to check on progress in efforts to deploy the U.S. THAAD missile defense system in the South, while reaffirming that the deployment is aimed only at defending against North Korean threats and poses no threats to China and other countries. jschang@yna.co.kr (END)