“Our government will build capabilities to better implement U.S. extended deterrence and significantly improve the ROK military’s response capabilities to deter North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats,” he said. said Defense Minister Lee Jong-Sup at the Shangri-La Dialogue security forum. in Singapore.
Lee also said South Korea would work more closely with the United States and Japan as part of its response – echoing a promise made by US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin a day earlier.
North Korea’s “repeated missile provocations” were progressing “in quality and quantity”, Lee said, adding that this and preparations for a nuclear test were a “serious challenge threatening peace and stability”.
This threat was a key topic of discussion at the three-day security forum, which attracts defense officials from across the region and this year has passed under the shadow of war in Ukraine and heightened concerns about Pyongyang’s weapons program.
Regional response
The dialogue was also a forum for countries to strengthen their cooperative plans to deter the North Korean threat.
In a meeting Saturday on the sidelines of the forum, US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin, Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi of Japan and South Korea’s Lee spoke of “solidarity” as a key element of deterrence against the North Korea, according to a senior US defense official. official.
The three countries planned to engage in ballistic missile data-sharing exercises and discuss additional trilateral exercises, the official said.
Austin pledged to deepen U.S. security cooperation with Japan and South Korea in response to North Korean provocations in a speech the same day.
“We remain open to future diplomacy – and fully prepared to deter and defeat future aggression,” he said.
Chinese Defense Minister Wei Fenghe also commented on North Korea’s recent missile launches in response to a question following his own speech at the forum on Sunday.
Wei said China will continue to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula, but stressed that the security concerns of all parties should be taken into account.
“The concerns of the DPRK [Democratic People’s Republic of Korea] are not being addressed by the international community,” he said, adding that international sanctions had harmed the quality of life in North Korea.
In his address, South Korean Minister Lee said that if North Korea makes substantial progress in denuclearization, South Korea will pursue a “bold plan” to help improve the country’s economy and the lives of its people. citizens, but this plan must come “from a position of strength.”
CNN’s Ally Barnard and Teele Rebane contributed to this report.
