South Korea, US to hold regular defense talks on deterrence against North Korea

South Korea and the United States will hold regular defense talks this week to discuss ways to bolster security cooperation and deter North Korean nuclear and missile threats, Seoul's defense ministry said Monday, Report informs, citing Yonhap.

The Korea-US Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) will take place in Washington on Thursday (US time) for discussions on a range of alliance issues ahead of the allies' Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) session in June.

South Korean Deputy Defense Minister for Policy Cho Chang-rae, Ely Ratner, US assistant secretary of defense for Indo-Pacific security affairs, and Andrew Winternitz, US acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, will lead this week's meeting.

The talks are seen as part of preparations for the upcoming third NCG meeting, which is expected to draw up guidelines on information sharing, consultation procedures for a nuclear crisis, and operating a real-time leader-level communication channel.