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| South Korean Defense Minister Kim Kwan-jin, left, and his U.S. counterpart Leon Panetta share greetings during a welcoming ceremony for Panetta’s official visit to the ministry in Seoul on Oct. 27 to havedefense talks at the annual Security Consultative Meeting. (By Kim Tae-hyeong) |
Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States are expected to discuss bolstering their defense cooperation. South Korean Minister of National Defense Kim Kwan-jin and U.S. Secretary of Defense Leon Panetta are scheduled to meet for an annual 43rd Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on Oct. 28 at the Ministry of National Defense in Seoul. The meeting will be the first SCM since Panetta took an oath as defense secretary in July this year.
The two sides will discuss deterrence measures to counter North Korea’s provocations, close cooperation on North Korean policy and reinforcement on defense exchanges in line with compromise results from the summit talks between South Korea and U.S. last month.
A day before the SCM, Kim greeted Panetta who visited the ministry and had a pleasant talk. The U.S. defense secretary paid a courtesy call to President Lee Myung-bak and the Foreign Minister Kim Sung-hwan.
In the meantime, South Korean Army Gen. Jung Seung-jo, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his U.S. counterpart, Gen. Martin Dempsey, sat down for the 35th Military Committee Meeting. They reviewed situation of North Korean forces and joint defense capabilities between the two countries against North Korea in light of deadly armed provocations against the South a year ago.