Asia-Pacific

S Korea, US to meet for deterrence talks

(Xinhua)
Updated: 2011-03-21 15:57

SEOUL - South Korea and the United States are set to hold high-level talks early next week to discuss US- supplied deterrence against the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK), local media reported Monday.

Seoul and Washington will meet on March 28 in Hawaii for their first two-day high-level meeting of the Extended Deterrence Policy Committee, established last December reportedly as a response to a series of acts by Pyongyang, according to Yonhap News Agency.

South Korea's Deputy Defense Minister Chang Gwang-il and Michael Schiffer, US deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, are expected to represent each country in assessing" the DPRK's nuclear capabilities and threats of its weapons of mass destruction".

The allies will also hold an annual Security Policy Initiative meeting during the two-day talks to discuss issues including the handover of wartime operational control from Washington back to Seoul, slated for 2015, according to Yonhap.