South Korea and the US are working on new guidelines for coordinating their response to any nuclear threat from North Korea, Reuters reports. High-ranking representatives of the defense of the two countries held a meeting in Seoul today, quoted by News.bg.
The guidelines set out the principles and procedures for maintaining and enhancing "reliable and effective" policy and position of nuclear deterrence, a joint statement made clear after the allies' third consecutive closed-door talks on the issue.
The Nuclear Advisory Group meeting came amid signs that North Korea is rushing to develop its nuclear weapons and delivery systems.
Some South Korean politicians, including senior members of President Yoon Suk-yeol's party, have called for Seoul to develop its own nuclear weapons instead of simply relying on the US nuclear umbrella, a step that Washington opposed.
Today's meeting was a follow-up to last year's summit, when the United States promised to give South Korea more information about its nuclear planning regarding a possible conflict with the North.
Vipin Narang, acting assistant secretary of defense for space policy, who co-chaired the talks, said the guidelines create an architecture for how allies integrate conventional and nuclear capabilities that will ultimately be provided to leadership of any country in crisis.
"The guidelines cover the principles and procedures for consultations, especially in a nuclear crisis with the DPRK, and indicate the operational concepts and teachings of the alliance,", Narang noted.
Cho Chang-rae, South Korea's vice minister of defense for policy, said senior officials from both sides would conduct a simulation exercise ahead of regular summer drills, focusing on the possibility of North Korea using nuclear weapons.
The two Koreas are still at war after their 1950-53 conflict ended in an armistice rather than a peace treaty.
In late May, North Korea's attempt to launch a military spy satellite failed after a newly developed rocket motor exploded in flight.
Seoul and Washington condemned the launch as a violation of UN Security Council sanctions that prohibit Pyongyang from using ballistic technology.
After their second meeting in December, both sides warned that any nuclear attack by North Korea against the United States or its allies would be met with a "swift, strong and decisive response" and will lead to the end of Kim Jong-un's regime.
Their next meeting will be held in Washington towards the end of the year.