S.Korea, U.S. agree to expand rotational deployment of strategic military assets
Xinhua
1509176691000

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This US Department of Defense photo shows US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo as they visit the Demilitarized Zone between North and South Korea, on October 27, 2017.(file photo:VCG) 

Defense chiefs of South Korea and the United States agreed Saturday to expand rotational deployment of U.S. strategic military assets to the Korean Peninsula to counter the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK)'s threats.
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis held the 49th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), an annual security dialogue between the defense ministers of the two allies, in Seoul.
Song told a post-meeting press conference that they agreed to expand the rotational deployment of U.S. strategic assets to enhance the U.S. commitment to an extended deterrence while agreeing to strengthen cooperation on other deterrence measures.
The U.S. strategic military assets include nuclear-powered aircraft carriers, nuclear-capable attack submarines, stealth fighter jets and strategic bombers, which the U.S. military recently sent near the peninsula more frequently.
According to the 18-point joint statement, the two allies agreed not to tolerate any type of the DPRK provocations, promising to maintain a close coordination of the alliance to effectively counter any provocation.
Mattis said in the statement that any use of nuclear weapons will be met with effective and overwhelming military response, re-confirming the U.S. offer of all categories of military capability, including nuclear umbrella, conventional striking capability and missile defense capability, for extended deterrence to South Korea.
The agreement came amid heightened tensions on the Korean Peninsula, caused by the DPRK's nuclear detonation and ballistic missile launches.
China has proposed realizing denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula while establishing a peace mechanism, calling for the DPRK suspends its nuclear and missile activities in exchange for the suspension of large-scale U.S.-South Korea military exercises.  
Pyongyang conducted its sixth and most powerful nuclear test in early September, detonating what it claimed was a hydrogen bomb that can be loaded onto an intercontinental ballistic missile.
The Asian country test-fired two ballistic missiles with an intercontinental capability in July. No moves has been taken since the DPRK flew an intermediate-range ballistic missile over Japan on Sept. 15.