S. Korea, U.S. agree on stronger deterrence against N. Korea

SEOUL, July 26 (Yonhap) -- South Korea and the United States agreed on building
stronger security and defense deterrence against North Korea's nuclear and
military threats by 2012, Seoul officials said Sunday.
The agreement was reached in the Security Policy Initiative (SPI) talks held here
Thursday as a follow-up to the summit agreement made between South Korean
President Lee Myung-bak and U.S. President Barack Obama last month. The recent
SPI talks, the 23rd since 2005, came amid Pyongyang's ongoing provocations that
led to tough U.N. sanctions against the communist state.
"The two countries agreed on building up extended deterrence by 2012 in the SPI
talks," a South Korean defense official said, requesting anonymity due to the
sensitivity of the issue.
"The United States wants all details of the plan to remain secret to outsiders,"
he added. "Defense ministries of the two countries may set up working-level teams
to accomplish the plan."
The U.S. would deploy bombers and other strategic weapons in addition to its
nuclear umbrella should North Korea provoke aggression on the peninsula, defense
ministry spokesman Won Tae-jae said in a press briefing Friday.
Since 2006, South Korea has been under U.S.-pledged extended deterrence, which
guarantees the deployment of strategic weapons such as long-range bombers and
ballistic missiles against North Korea if necessary.
Its key component is the U.S. nuclear umbrella over South Korea, which went
public in 1992, a year after the U.S. declared it had withdrawn its nuclear
weapons from the Korean Peninsula.
During his meeting with President Lee, Obama reaffirmed Washington's pledge to
provide South Korea with bolstered deterrent against Pyongyang.
About 28,500 U.S. troops are stationed in South Korea, a legacy of the 1950-53
Korean War that ended in a truce, not a peace treaty.
hayney@yna.co.kr
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