U.S. Defense Secretary Austin Vows Close Consultation on North-South Military Agreement

On the 13th, U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin stated, “We have agreed to closely consult on how to resolve the issue of suspending the effectiveness of the September 19th North-South Military Agreement.”

Secretary Austin made this comment in response to a question about whether the U.S. also needs to revise the September 19th Agreement to prevent North Korea’s Hamas-style provocations during a press conference after hosting the Korea-U.S. Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) with South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook. The SCM, which began in 1968, is an annual consultation body that primarily deals with current issues of the Korea-U.S. alliance in military and security fields, such as security on the Korean Peninsula and the Korea-U.S. joint defense posture. It is held alternately in Seoul and Washington each year, and this year marks the 55th meeting.

Minister Suh has argued that the no-fly zone established under the September 19th Military Agreement restricts our military’s surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities against North Korean military targets such as long-range artillery and that the effectiveness of the military agreement should be suspended as soon as possible. In response to a question about whether the U.S. can maintain the same frequency of strategic asset deployment in Korea amidst ongoing wars in Ukraine and the Middle East, Secretary Austin said, “My answer is ‘yes.’ We can do that.” He emphasized, “The U.S. has the most powerful military force in the world. The important thing is not that the U.S. deploys strategic assets on its own, but that it does so in cooperation with allies and partners, wherever it deploys them.”

He also stated, “The ‘Washington Declaration’ includes a commitment to increase the frequency of strategic asset deployment on the Korean Peninsula,” and added, “As part of our efforts to keep that promise, a strategic nuclear submarine (SSBN) recently docked in Busan, and a B-52H strategic bomber landed on the Korean Peninsula. Another aircraft carrier will arrive on the Korean Peninsula soon.”

Furthermore, he said, “The U.S. Department of Defense’s budget has historically been structured to allocate the most directly to strategy. It wasn’t easy, but we managed to pull it off. If something is needed for freedom and peace in the Indo-Pacific region, we will mobilize the necessary assets and do what the alliance wants at any time. There may be doubts whether this will continue under the next administration after the Biden administration, but it will continue in the future.”

In response to a question about whether the U.S. can adequately respond to a crisis in North Korea while dealing with the situation in Ukraine, the Middle East, and China, Minister Suh warned, “If North Korea provokes a war, what will disappear is the Kim Jong Un regime, and what will be achieved is unification based on the free and democratic basic order led by the Republic of Korea.”

He said, “Secretary Austin and I confirmed that we cannot tolerate any nuclear attack from North Korea, and if North Korea uses nuclear weapons, it will face immediate, overwhelming, and decisive responses from South Korea and the U.S., leading to the end of the Kim Jong Un regime.” He added, “The soldiers of the Korea-U.S. Combined Forces are maintaining a solid readiness posture with a ‘Fight Tonight’ attitude.”

Meanwhile, through the consultation on the same day, the U.S. military authorities agreed to share information about North Korea’s ballistic missile launches, which they obtained through early warning satellites, with South Korea in real-time. They also decided to revise the ‘Tailored Deterrence Strategy’ (TDS), established in 2013, for the first time in 10 years in response to North Korea’s advanced nuclear and missile threats. Both sides also reaffirmed their commitment to continuously promote and expand trilateral security cooperation between Korea, the U.S., and Japan, including high-level policy consultations, joint training, information sharing, and defense exchange cooperation.

By. Goo Chae Eun