U.S. Military Deployments

[Anchor Lead]

U.S. forces will likely deploy more strategic military assets near the Korean Peninsula later this year. The presidential office said on Wednesday that it received such a promise from the United States.

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The expanded deployment of U.S. military strategic assets near the Korean Peninsula was announced at a meeting on Wednesday between President Moon Jae-in and the leaders of four political parties. National security adviser Chung Eui-yong said that the presidential office had received this promise from the United States. The announcement came in response to the political party chiefs' questions regarding diminished trust between Seoul and Washington.

[Soundbite] Cheong Yang-seog(Floor Leader, Bareun Party) : "National security adviser Chung Eui-yong said that the United States had promised to deploy more strategic military assets near the Korean Peninsula."

The U.S. forces will likely begin to deploy more strategic military assets at the end of the year. Regarding the deployment of tactical nuclear weapons, the national security adviser also said that the Mutual Defense Treaty between the Republic of Korea and the United States includes all extended deterrence methods, including those involving nuclear weapons. At the meeting with the heads of political parties, President Moon said he would dispatch a special envoy to North Korea when the time and conditions are right. He also made it clear that the ongoing efforts to eradicate irregularities had nothing to do with political retaliation against his predecessors. He vehemently opposes such actions as someone who had personally experienced it before. Regarding the controversy over the nominations of top government posts, the president said it's regrettable that some of the nominees failed to live up to the people's expectations. Meanwhile, the Liberty Korea Party criticized the meeting for its failure to come up with concrete and realistic
solutions on the North Korea nuclear crisis and called it a "national security tour to the underground bunker" of the Cheong Wa Dae.