US, Japan and South Korea coordinate response to North Korean threats

2024-11-16 10:30:00, Kosova & Bota CNA

US President Joe Biden will meet the leaders of South Korea and Japan on Friday to discuss a "coordinated" response to North Korea's deployment of thousands of troops to help Moscow's war against Ukraine and its nuclear threat. Pyongyang. The meeting is expected to be held during the proceedings of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation Forum in Lima, Peru.

Pyongyang's troop deployment (in Russia) is a "significant development," White House National Security Adviser Jake Sullivan told reporters en route to Lima.

"We will treat it with the seriousness with which it deserves to be treated," he said.

Mr Sullivan said the trilateral meeting would allow leaders to prepare for any possible "provocative" moves by Pyongyang, including nuclear tests and ballistic missile launches, as the United States prepares for a change in administration when Donald Trump takes office. in January.

"Transitional periods have historically been periods of time when the DPRK has taken provocative actions," Sullivan said, using the acronym for North Korea's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The United States has a "comprehensive deterrence" policy aimed at preventing adversaries from attacking allies, including South Korea and Japan. The policy says Washington will come to their aid if they are attacked, potentially including using US nuclear capabilities.

The leaders will announce the creation of a secretariat as part of their efforts to "institutionalize" trilateral cooperation, which began as a series of leaders' dialogues on economic security, intelligence sharing and defense policy coordination. The leaders' tripartite discussions began in May 2023 during the G7 meeting in Hiroshima, Japan, and then at Camp David in August of that year.

The trilateral effort is one of President Biden's regional security initiatives in an effort to encourage Seoul and Tokyo to overcome years of hostilities and work together to deter common adversaries North Korea and China.

US, Japanese and South Korean military forces began joint exercises in waters south of the Korean peninsula and west of Japan on Thursday, the latest exercises under President Biden's administration.

During his first term, former President Trump advocated friendlier ties with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and pressured Tokyo and Seoul to shoulder a greater share of the US defense burden.

A day before Mr Trump's re-election, the United States and South Korea struck a new deal for Seoul to pay $1.19 billion in 2026 to support US troops, an 8.3 percent increase over last year.

North Korea Tests Explosive Drone - Kim Calls for Mass Production

North Korea conducted tests of explosive drones designed to crash into targets, and leader Kim Jong Un called for speeding up mass production of the weapons, state media said on Friday.

North Korea's Korean Central News Agency released photos of leader Kim talking to officials near at least two different types of unmanned aerial vehicles. They included ones with X-shaped tails and wings that look similar to those unveiled in August, when Kim inspected another demonstration of drones that explode on impact. The drones flew on different routes and accurately hit the targets, the KCNA news agency said. The footage it released showed what appeared to be a WM vehicle being destroyed and old model tanks being blown up.

Kim Jong Un expressed satisfaction with the weapons development process and stressed the need to "build a serial production system as soon as possible and move to mass production," noting how drones are becoming crucial in modern warfare.

The KCNA news agency quoted leader Kim as saying the drones were easy to make at low cost for a variety of military activities. The report did not say whether Kim spoke directly about his rival, South Korea, which the North Korean drones are apparently designed to target.

North Korea last month accused South Korea of ??sending its drones to drop anti-North Korean propaganda leaflets over the capital Pyongyang and threatened to respond with force if such flights occur again. South Korea's military has refused to confirm whether or not the North's claims were true.

Tensions in the region have escalated as Kim highlights his advanced nuclear and missile program, which includes various nuclear-capable weapons aimed at South Korea and intercontinental ballistic missiles that could potentially reach the US mainland.

Kim is also suspected of sending military equipment and troops to Russia to support Russian President Vladimir Putin's war against Ukraine, raising concerns in Seoul that he would receive Russian technology in return to further develop his arsenal.

In addition to mounting nuclear threats, Kim has also engaged in psychological and electronic warfare against South Korea, sending thousands of balloons to drop debris on the South and disrupting GPS navigation signals in border areas near South Korea's largest airport. / Voa