Department of Defense Spokesperson Cmdr. Jessica Anderson provided the following statement:
On July 30, 2024, the Republic of Korea Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense held the 2024 U.S.-ROK Counter Weapons of Mass Destruction (WMD) Committee in Seoul.
The meeting was attended by senior representatives from both countries, including Director General for Policy and Planning at the Ministry of National Defense of the Republic of Korea Yoon Bong-hee and Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for Nuclear and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy at the Department of Defense of the United States Richard C. Johnson.
The two sides expressed concern that the DPRK's WMD capabilities are contributing to instability on the Korean Peninsula and in the region and discussed in-depth ways to strengthen the effectiveness of U.S.-ROK deterrence and defense against North Korean WMD use.
The two sides discussed information sharing on DPRK's WMD program and how to continue to enhance the capabilities and expertise of relevant forces through the Cooperative Threat Reduction program.
In particular, the two sides agreed that the illicit proliferation of WMD in the region, including the arms trade between Russia and the DPRK, undermines peace and stability in the Indo-Pacific region, including the Korean Peninsula, and will work together to prevent the proliferation of WMD.
The allies also agreed on the need for cooperation in consequence management to protect the alliance, minimize damage, and maintain combat capabilities in the event of a DPRK WMD attack and agreed to promote exchanges and cooperation between the relevant military units of the two countries.
Both sides assessed that the U.S.-ROK tabletop exercises in the nuclear, biological, and chemical defense fields in 2024 strengthened the alliance's crisis management in light of the escalating DPRK WMD threats. Representatives of the ROK and the U.S. assessed the meeting as having contributed substantially to further strengthening cooperation in responding to the DPRK WMD threat and agreed to continue cooperation through the alliance's combined defense posture.
