S. Korea, U.S. step up extended deterrence efforts against N. Korea

한미, 올해 9차례 핵 확장억제 능력 과시하며 대북 경고 Amid evolving threats from North Korea, South Korea says it has strengthened extended deterrence against the regime this year, by cooperating with the U.S. From joint exercises involving strategic bombers to the deployment of a U.S. ballistic missile submarine, the two countries have sent warnings to the North multiple times, as a show of force. Bae Eun-ji has the details. South Korea and the U.S. have issued warnings to North Korea on nine separate occasions so far this year, as they step up efforts to deter threats from Pyongyang. That's according to a report released by Seoul's defense ministry on Tuesday, which explained that U.S. Forces stationed in South Korea and the deployment of U.S. strategic assets are a symbol of their extended deterrence against the North. On February 24th, South Korean and U.S. defense officials visited an American naval submarine base Kings Bay in Georgia. From March to July, the U.S. Air Force's B-52 Stratofortress engaged in combined aerial training exercises five times this year. The ministry explained that the B-52 bomber played a key role in enhancing the “regular visibility“ of U.S. strategic assets on the Korean Peninsula, as agreed by President Yoon Suk Yeol and U.S. President Joe Biden during their summit in April in Washington. Then in July, the U.S. Navy Ohio-class ballistic missile submarine, the USS Kentucky visited Busan. A month after that, a B-52 bomber arrived at an airbase in Chungju, in a show of force against the North. This was the first time that the American strategic bomber had ever landed at a South Korean airbase. Lastly, South Korean and U.S. defense officials attended a test launch of Washington's Minuteman III ICBM in California last Wednesday. The defense ministry said this was the first time in seven years, and the second time ever, that South Korean officials have attended an ICBM test launch by the U.S. Tuesday's report comes ahead of U.S. Defense Chief Lloyd Austin's visit to Seoul next week for an annual meeting with his South Korean counterpart, Shin Won-sik. Bae Eun-ji, Arirang News. #SouthKorea #UnitedStates #NorthKorea #Extended_deterrence #대한민국 #미국 #북한 #확장억제 #Arirang_News #아리랑뉴스 📣 Facebook : 📣 Twitter : 📣 Homepage : 2023-11-07, 18:00 (KST)