First meeting in six months since 5th session last December

South Korean and US delegates discuss extended deterrence at the fifth Nuclear Consultative Group meeting held in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11 last year. Kim Hong-cheol, director general for defense policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, and Robert Soofer, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence and CWMD policy and programs, co-chaired the session. [Ministry of National Defense]
South Korean and US delegates discuss extended deterrence at the fifth Nuclear Consultative Group meeting held in Washington, D.C., on Dec. 11 last year. Kim Hong-cheol, director general for defense policy at South Korea's Ministry of National Defense, and Robert Soofer, acting principal deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence and CWMD policy and programs, co-chaired the session. [Ministry of National Defense]

South Korea and the United States will hold the sixth meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group, their extended deterrence consultative body, in Seoul on Thursday.

The Ministry of National Defense said the session will be co-chaired by Kim Hong-cheol, director general for defense policy at the ministry, and Robert Soofer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence and CWMD policy at the US Department of Defense. Defense, diplomatic and intelligence officials from both sides will take part.

"The two sides plan to discuss various measures to maintain and strengthen the alliance's nuclear deterrence and readiness posture," the ministry said.

The meeting comes roughly six months after the fifth NCG session, held in Washington, D.C., in December last year.

The NCG is a bilateral consultative body established to allow South Korea to provide input on US nuclear operations as a means of reinforcing extended deterrence against North Korea's nuclear threat. It convenes twice a year.

The meeting is drawing particular attention as it takes place amid the South Korean government's push to accelerate the transfer of wartime operational control to Korean command.

Some have raised concerns that a transition to a Korea-led combined defense structure could weaken the US commitment to using nuclear weapons to deter North Korean threats.

In this regard, a ministry official told reporters last month that questions over who controls nuclear use after the transfer of operational control are also being discussed through the NCG. "The US leads nuclear operations, and South Korea provides conventional support," the official said.


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