Joint Defense Posture

[Anchor Lead]

Ahead of President Trump's visit to South Korea next month, South Korean and American military leaders visited the USS Ronald Reagan to inspect their joint defense posture. Meanwhile, the navies of South Korea, the U.S. and Japan also conducted joint military drills in waters around the Korean Peninsula to detect and track North Korean missiles.

[Pkg]

South Korean and American military leaders visited the USS Ronald Reagan aircraft carrier moored at the Busan Port after finishing joint ROK-US naval exercises last week. Chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff Jeong Kyeong-doo and Commander Vincent Brooks of the U.S.-ROK Combined Forces Command inspected the formidable combat power of the aircraft carrier and confirmed the solid joint defense posture. General Chung said that North Korean provocation should be deterred with the strong ROK-U.S. joint capabilities but the allies should launch a stern retaliation if North Korea does provoke. Meanwhile, the naval forces of South Korea, the U.S., and Japan conducted joint missile tracking exercises in the East Sea and waters off Japan. This trilateral anti-missile drill was the sixth one of its kind since starting last year.

[Soundbite] Moon Seong-mook(Korea Research Institute for National Strategy) : "It's significant that the three countries jointly strengthened their response capabilities amid projections of additional provocation from North Korea."

Defense ministers of the three countries also met in the Philippines and agreed to continuously hold joint missile tracking exercises in response to North Korea's nuclear and missile threats.