SEOUL, South Korea — The United States and South Korea on Monday updated a bilateral security agreement with the aim of more effectively countering North Korea's evolving nuclear and missile threats.
The move followed high-level military talks in Seoul, where the allies also discussed enhancing three-way defense exercises with Japan and improving information-sharing on North Korean missile launches.
U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin was in Seoul for annual security talks with South Korean military officials, including Defense Minister Shin Won-sik, which were focused on boosting nuclear deterrence against North Korea. They also talked about how the allies could coordinate over broader geopolitical issues, including Russia's war on Ukraine and China's regional assertiveness, Austin said.
Tensions between the Koreas are at their highest point in years as the pace of both North Korea's weapons tests and South Korea's combined military exercises with the United States have intensified in a cycle of tit-for-tat.
During their Security Consultative Meeting, Austin and Shin signed a new version of their countries' Tailored Deterrence Strategy agreement, which was revised for the first time in a decade to address the growing threat of the North's military nuclear program.
Shin said the new document spells out that the United States would mobilize its full range of military capabilities, including nuclear ones, to…
