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| Foreign Minister Park Jin speaks during a forum organized by the Korea News Editors' Association at the Press Center in Seoul, May 23. Yonhap |
Foreign Minister Park Jin said Tuesday that ensuring joint operation between South Korea and the United States is top priority for the allies' envisioned nuclear consulting group for bolstering nuclear deterrence against North Korea's military threats.
Park also appeared to open the possibility that Japan may join the South Korea-U.S. Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), saying the participation of Japan in the group "can be discussed."
At a forum hosted by the Korea News Editors' Association in Seoul, Park said the priority of the NCG would be the "faithful establishment and operation between South Korea and the United States."
Seoul and Washington agreed to establish the NCG during a bilateral summit last month to share information on nuclear operations and planning, and regularly deploy U.S. strategic assets, such as a nuclear ballistic missile submarine, to the Korean Peninsula.
When asked whether Japan could potentially join the apparatus, Park stated it is "a matter that can be discussed." The minister added that Japan is also allied with the U.S. and has security concerns regarding North Korea's nuclear weapons and missiles.
On the agenda of a likely trilateral summit between South Korea, the U.S. and Japan in Washington later this year, Park said there will be "announcements from the defense authorities of the three countries on how to achieve real-time sharing of North Korea's missile provocation alerts." (Yonhap)
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