SEOUL: US Defense Secretary Pete Hegseth visits South Korea on Monday (Nov 3) for talks expected to involve Washington’s goal of reshaping the role of US troops in Korea in an evolving security environment, and is also expected to visit the DMZ border with North Korea.
The defence chiefs are scheduled to hold the annual Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Tuesday, the highest-level forum where the two countries chart the course of their military alliance and South Korea’s defence against nuclear-armed North Korea.
South Korean Defence Minister Ahn Gyu-back and Hegseth will discuss combined defence readiness against North Korea and cooperation on regional security and cyber and missile defence, the South’s ministry said.
The two are expected to discuss plans to respond to the “changing security environment and threats” by developing the alliance between the two countries, it said.
Washington is considering making the role of the 28,500 US troops in South Korea more flexible with an eye on maintaining the balance of power in Asia amid concerns about Chinese activities in the South China Sea and around Taiwan.
