South Korean, US Marine chiefs discuss expanding military cooperation, joint drills

Seoul, June 4 (SocialNews.XYZ) The chiefs of the South Korean and US Marine Corps have discussed ways to expand military cooperation and joint drills in a bid to strengthen their combined defence readiness posture, officials said Thursday.

Lieutenant General Ju Il-suk held talks with his US counterpart, General Eric M. Smith, at the Pentagon, near Washington, on Tuesday (local time), according to South Korea's Marine Corps.

The two sides shared the understanding that the allies' Marines will make efforts to bolster a combined defence posture even after the US transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) to Seoul, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Smith underscored the role of the Marine Corps in forming a "strong and lasting" alliance, and voiced hope to continue their joint drills and personnel exchanges to contribute to the security on the Korean Peninsula.

Meanwhile, Ju also visited a Korean War veterans memorial, the Arlington National Cemetery and the Korean War memorial commemorating the Changjin Reservoir Battle to pay respects to US soldiers who fought in the 1950-53 Korean War.

The visit, scheduled from June 1-7, comes at the invitation of the US Marine Corps Forces Command.

Meanwhile, South Korea and the United States on Wednesday discussed the timeline for follow-up talks on Seoul's push for nuclear-powered submarines and its bid to secure the right to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for peaceful purposes.

The talks -- the second and final day of a meeting that began Tuesday -- were part of efforts to advance agreements reached at an October summit between the leaders of the two countries last year.

Under the joint fact sheet, the US committed to supporting processes that would lead to uranium enrichment and spent nuclear fuel reprocessing for civilian use, as well as Seoul's push to build conventionally armed nuclear-propelled submarines.

The US delegation, led by Under Secretary of State for Political Affairs Allison Hooker, arrived in Seoul on Monday for the talks.

Also accompanying her were Ivan Kanapathy, senior director for Asia at the National Security Council (NSC), and Matthew Napoli, deputy administrator for defense nuclear nonproliferation at the National Nuclear Security Administration, among other officials.

"The two sides agreed to work together to produce tangible results in a swift manner and to establish a mechanism to review progress and speed up consultations going forward," the foreign ministry said in a release.

A Seoul official said the talks included discussions on a potential timeline and broad directions for follow-up consultations.

The allies reportedly plan to hold the next round of talks in Washington as early as next month.

Wednesday's talks likely centered on the issue of allowing Seoul to enrich uranium and reprocess spent nuclear fuel for civilian purposes, which would require revising the allies' 2015 nuclear energy cooperation pact.

The existing agreement bars South Korea from enriching uranium or reprocessing spent nuclear fuel unless it obtains US consent through consultations and in writing.

Seoul is reportedly seeking to revise the pact, known as the 123 Agreement, in a way that would help secure "advance consent" from the US -- a preapproved and long-term permission.

Working-level discussions on these issues were expected to be the focus of Wednesday's meeting, with officials from South Korea's National Security Office and the NSC likely leading the talks.

The allies discussed the nuclear-powered submarine program Tuesday.

In a social media post Wednesday, Hooker said she "discussed working closely to make progress on bilateral nuclear cooperation" during her meeting with National Security Adviser Wi Sung-lac on Tuesday.

"We also covered a wide range of issues that underscored economic security is national security," she said on X.

The security talks took place months later than expected as Seoul's legislative process for a planned US$350 billion investment in the US -- another key element of the summit agreement -- had been delayed.

Growing US concerns over what Washington views as discriminatory treatment of US-listed e-commerce giant Coupang Inc. in South Korea have also been cited as factors behind slow progress in the security talks.

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Source: IANS