PENTAGON PRESS SECRETARY MAJOR GENERAL PAT RYDER: Well, good afternoon and thank you for being here today. Ladies and gentlemen, it is my pleasure to introduce Secretary of Defense Lloyd J. Austin and Republic of Korea Minister of National Defense Kim Yong Hyun. The secretary and the minister will deliver opening remarks and then we’ll have time to take a few questions.
Please note that I will moderate and call on journalists. And with that, Secretary Austin, over to you sir. SECRETARY OF DEFENSE LLOYD AUSTIN: Thanks, Pat. Good afternoon, everybody and thanks for being here. Minister Kim, let me again welcome you and your team to the Pentagon. It’s our honor to host our allies in the Republic of Korea for our 56th Security Consultative Meeting. The SCM is the annual capstone event for the US-ROK Alliance. It brings our defense leaders together to tackle shared challenges and to deepen our friendship.
For more than 70 years, our alliance has been the foundation of peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula. Our two proud democracies share a vision of a free and open Indo-Pacific and we stand shoulder to shoulder against those who would upend the status quo. Now we’re closely tracking the unprecedented level of direct military cooperation between Russia and the DPRK. In our meetings today, we shared our deep concerns about the deployment of DPRK troops to Russia.
We also discussed how we’re going to work together with our allies and partners to respond to this dangerous and destabilizing escalation. The evidence now suggests that North Korea has sent around 10,000 soldiers to train in eastern Russia and some of these DPRK troops have already moved closer to Ukraine.
And we’re seeing them outfitted with Russian uniforms and provided with Russian equipment. And I am increasingly concerned that the Kremlin plans to use these North Korean soldiers to support Russia’s combat operations in Russia’s Kursk region near the border with Ukraine. And let me remind you that Russia signed on to the UN Security Council resolutions agreeing not to provide military assistance to North Korea.
Of course, we know that Putin has gone tin cupping to get weapons from the DPRK and Iran. Turning to a pariah state like North Korea for troops just underscores how much trouble he is in. And we take this very seriously. We urge the Kremlin to change course and we fully understand the security implications for both Europe and the Indo-Pacific.
Putin will not prevail in Ukraine even with more help from North Korea, but these deeply concerning developments only underscore the importance of our alliance with the ROK and other allies and partners committed to shared security and prosperity. Now, Minister Kim and I had an outstanding meeting today.
Our discussions move the ball forward to modernize and deepen our alliance that will help protect the security of the Korean Peninsula and shape the future of the Indo-Pacific. It was with a sense of urgency we’ve delivered on a shared security objectives that we set forth just a year ago in a defense vision of the US-ROK Alliance.
The US Department of Defense and the ROK Ministry of National Defense signed the Nuclear Consultative Group guidelines in July and later that month I traveled to Japan to join an historic trilateral ministerial meeting with the ROK and Japan. It was held in Tokyo for the first time as envisioned by the 2023 Camp David Summit.
Now I assured Minister Kim today that the United States remains fully committed to the defense of the ROK and our extended deterrence commitment remains ironclad. That commitment is backed by the full range of America’s conventional missile defense, nuclear and advanced non-nuclear capabilities. We’ve also returned to large scale exercises with our ROK allies and that strengthening our combined readiness and our interoperability.
We’re also working together to tackle shared security challenges across the Indo-Pacific. So today Minister Kim and I endorsed a framework to expand our cooperation throughout the region based on our shared values and common interests. We also discussed the important role of the United Nations Command, which reflects the international community’s long-standing commitment to peace on the peninsula.
And earlier this year with support from the ROK, we accepted Germany as the 18th member state of the UNC. Moving forward, we’ll build on our momentum and will expand the scope and scale of our cooperation. We’ll use our strategic advantages and innovation in our defense industrial bases to bring cutting edge tech to our warfighters.
Now our alliance has always been rooted in our shared commitment to act together in the interests that brought us together seven decades ago have continued to grow stronger. Today’s discussion again underscored our shared vision for this alliance’s future. So, Minister Kim, thanks for your leadership and your commitment to this proud alliance.
We got a lot done today and I look forward to doing even more tomorrow in the US-ROK 2+2 with Secretary Blinken and Minister Cho and thanks very much and now let me turn it over to Minister Kim. SOUTH KOREAN DEFENSE MINISTER KIM YONG-HYUN: (Via interpreter) Good afternoon. This is the Minister of National Defense of the Republic of Korea, Kim Yong-hyun. I find it highly meaningful to conduct my first overseas defense diplomatic engagements after my inauguration here at the Pentagon, the heart of safeguarding liberal democracy. Today at the SCM, Secretary Austin and I reviewed the work of implementing the defense vision of the ROK-US alliance over the last year.
In addition, we reaffirmed that the ROK-US alliance remains more robust than ever, even amid complex international security crisis. While asserting its theory of hostile two nations. North Korea continues to escalate tensions on the Korean Peninsula through detonation of sections of inter-Korean roads. In order to deter and respond to DPRK, provocations and
threats, Secretary Austin and I agreed to maintain an overwhelming combined defense posture and engage in close coordination and responses.
In particular, we made it clear that DPRK’s ongoing practice of sending filth and trash balloons constitutes a violation of the armistice agreement and called for an immediate cessation of this activity with one voice. Furthermore, we condemned in the strongest terms with a unified voice, the unlawful military cooperation between North Korea and Russia, which directly violates the rules-based order through the deployment of North Korean forces to Russia and arms trade and pledged to closely work with the international community.
This July, the defense authorities of Korea and the United States completed the NCG Joint Guidelines through the Nuclear Consultative Group, thereby elevating the ROK-US alliance to an unequivocal nuclear based alliance. Building on these guidelines, Secretary Austin and I will diligently pursue the NCG tasks in a substantive manner to enhance the execution capabilities of extended deterrence of ROK and US equal partners.
Throughout this process, the ROK Strategic Command will be a key unit in the execution of the ROK-US conventional nuclear integration, CNI, operations. Secretary Austin reaffirmed the United States’ unwavering commitment to providing extended deterrence to the Republic of Korea by utilizing the full range of its military capabilities.
In addition, as tangible evidence of the US commitment to the defense of the ROK, Secretary Austin reiterated that the frequency and intensity of US strategic asset deployment would be increased and made regularized in accordance with President Biden’s commitment in the Washington Declaration. The ROK and the United States will further enhance their — continue to further enhance the Alliance’s capabilities and posture in response to nuclear and missile threats through implementing combined exercises that reflect the North Korean nuclear threats.
Secretary Austin and I agreed to strengthen security cooperation in the region based on the respective Indo-Pacific strategies of our two countries. The nuclear and missile threat from North Korea is now an existential threat, not only to the ROK, but also to the Indo-Pacific region. We had a shared understanding that the ROK-US-Japan Trilateral Security Cooperation Framework signed this July represents a historic milestone in trilateral security cooperation.
We will continue to further enhance it. In particular, we highly appreciated the achievements of freedom to exercise the first multi-domain training and have decided to conduct a second training in the near future. In today’s meeting, Secretary Austin and I approved the regional cooperation framework for ROK-US Alliance contributions to security in the Indo-Pacific, demonstrating our commitment to cooperation both domestically and internationally.
Based on the framework, we will expand substantive cooperation with ASEAN and Pacific Island nations, enhancing the level and broadening the scope of the ROK-US Alliance.
Secretary Austin and I pledge to strengthen cooperation in science and technology and defense industry based on the defense vision of the alliance.
We plan to establish a vice minister level defense Science and Technology executive committee within this year to explore the application of cutting-edge science and technology in the defense sector as well as cooperation on all cause Pillar 2. Furthermore, we acknowledge the significance of securing supply chain resilience and modernizing alliance capabilities and pledge to engage in active cooperation in the defense industry sector.
In this regard, Secretary Austin welcomed ROK’s participation in the US MRO pilot project and underscored the efforts to expand cooperation between our two countries. For more than 70 years, the ROK-US Alliance has overcome countless challenges establishing itself as one of the world’s most premier and exemplary alliances.
Through the 56th Security Consultative Meeting, Secretary Austin and I reaffirmed our resolve to leap forward as a stronger alliance in response to uncertain future challenges. As the minister of National Defense, I will work closely with Secretary Austin so that the ROK-US Alliance serves as a linchpin of peace and stability in the world extending beyond the Korean Peninsula.
I deeply appreciate Secretary Austin’s active support for the successful meeting we had today. We go together, [untranslated]. Thank you. MAJ. GEN. RYDER: Thank you very much, gentlemen. Our first question will go to Phil Stewart, Reuters. Q: To Secretary Austin, how soon do you believe that North Korean soldiers may enter the fight against Ukrainian forces in Kursk? Are we talking days or weeks? And do you believe there’s anything the international community can still do to stop that deployment? And to Mr. Kim, does this deployment increase the risk of war on the Korean Peninsula?
And does this change South Korea’s willingness to provide lethal direct aid to Ukraine? If not, why not? SEC. AUSTIN: Well, Phil, as you heard me say in my opener (pause for translation)— Phil, as you heard me say in my opener, we believe that the DPRK has sent some 10,000 troops into eastern Ukraine and there they’ve been drawing equipment and conducting some training. And some of those troops have begun to make their way towards the border of Ukraine in the Kursk region.
Whether or not they’ll be employed in the fight, is left to be seen yet. But certainly, if they are employed, then that’s very disturbing. And so, we remain concerned that they’re going to use these troops in combat. I won’t speculate on the timing of employment. Again, this is something we’re going to continue to watch and we’re going to continue to work with allies and partners to discourage Russia from employing these troops in combat.
Again, this is a violation of the UN security agreement. So, this is pretty serious. Again, we’re going to continue to watch it and continue to work with our allies and partners to discourage it, so (pause for translation) Phil, to be clear, violation of UN sanctions. Q: Do you mean eastern Ukraine? SEC. AUSTIN: I’m sorry? Q: I thought you said deployed to eastern Ukraine. Yeah? Q: Did you mean eastern Ukraine or Eastern Russia that they had deployed to? SEC. AUSTIN: They had deployed to Eastern Russia and then they’re making their way west towards the Ukrainian border, sorry about that. DEFENSE MINISTER KIM YONG-HYUN: (Via interpreter) I’d like to answer the question regarding the increase in the possibility of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula following the North Korean’s troops deployment to Russia. I do not necessarily believe that the North Korean troops deployment to Russia results in the changes in the possibility of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula.
However, I believe this can result in the escalation of the security threats on the Korean Peninsula. This is because there is a high possibility that North Korea, in exchange for their troops deployment, would ask for cutting edge technology transfer. There is a high chance that they would, in exchange for their deployment, North Korea is very likely to ask for technology transfers in diverse areas, including the technologies relating to tactical nuclear weapons technologies related to their advancement of ICBM, also those regarding reconnaissance satellite and those regarding SSBNs as well.
There is also a high chance that they will try to replace their equipment that have been taken a lot of time, so therefore old technologies or equipment. I believe such changes in the technological situation of North Korea can pose an increase in the escalation of security threats on the Korean Peninsula.
However, one thing to consider is that as we have witnessed in the Russia-Ukraine war, the conventional weapon capabilities of Russia is not as formidable as we expected it to be. Therefore, even with the possibility of Russia’s cutting-edge technology flowing into North Korea and thereby resulting in the advancement of North Korea’s military technology, I believe it is possible for us to overcome such challenges based on our robust ROK-US alliance and ROK-US-Japan trilateral security cooperation.
And through these cooperation, I believe we can secure enough and sufficient capability in order to overcome such security challenges. In short, I would rather see the results or impacts of the deployment as an increase that can result. I believe the deployment can result in the security threats on the Korean Peninsula and it could also have a destabilizing impact on the security of the Korean Peninsula, but I don’t believe it is going to be any changes in the possibility of war breaking out on the Korean Peninsula.
MR. RYDER: Thank you both. Our next question will go to Ji Hun Kim, Yonhap News Agency. Q: (Via interpreter) This is Reporter Kim from Yonhap Agency, and first I have a question to direct it to Minister Kim. Last year’s munition deal between Korea’s corporation and the United States is an exemplary case where Korea was able to provide support toward United States in accordance with the mutual defense treaty. And do you have any additional plans to give indirect support to Ukraine by supplying munitions to the United States in an indirect way?
And also, there’s another question about the trash and filth balloons. Korea has been showing consistently the kind of response — Korea has been showing response such as collecting the trash balloons after they were dropped on the territory of Korean Peninsula, or they have consistently asked North Korea to cease the release of trash balloons.
Do you have any additional measures in order to respond to such release of trash or filth balloons from North Korea? And this question, the last question is directed to both Minister Kim and Secretary Austin. North Korea has consistently shown their anti-humanitarian provocations. Do you have any messages in mind that you can deliver to Kim Jong Un and North Korea? DEFENSE MINISTER KIM YONG-HYUN: (Via interpreter) So the first question about munitions supply to United States, I have to give you an answer that at the current moment, nothing is determined. And for your second question about Korea’s response to North Korea’s release of trash and filth balloons, in today’s meeting, Secretary Austin and I have confirmed that the deployment of trash and filth balloons are a violation of armistice agreement. And as the release of trash and filth balloons is a provocation that poses a safety threat to our people, we have been using the response of first identifying and then tracking and then after we found out the location of the dropping. And then we checked if there is any biological or chemical weapons in it after we have gone through all the tests, then we collected those balloons.
These measures were taken under our assessment that this is the best and most optimal way of guaranteeing and confirming the safety of our people and that this is the way to protect our people in our best way. However, North Korea is crossing the line with various methods of provocations and we are open to all alternatives when it comes to the risk — when it comes to our response to North Korea’s provocation.
On your third question, I recall it was if I have any message toward — that I have to Kim Jong Un. I believe the essence of North Korean troop deployment is the possibility of expansion of the war. And this results from the intervention of the third party, which is North Korea. And such possibility is resulting in grave concerns of European countries, including Ukraine.
And the deployment is — North Korea is joining the collusion of Russia’s illegal aggression and invasion, and therefore I see that the deployment is Kim Jong Un’s attempt to maintain
its dictatorship and Kim Jong Un didn’t hesitate to sell out its young people and troops as cannon fodder mercenaries. I believe such activities is a war crime that is not only anti-humanitarian but also anti-peaceful.
Therefore, I would like to strongly condemn the activity of Kim Jong Un and I believe all responsibility from the results of the deployment belong to Kim Jong Un. We call for Kim Jong Un’s immediate withdrawal of his troops in our strongest terms. Thank you.
SEC. AUSTIN: Thank you for the question. I don’t have any messages for the leadership of DPRK. I call upon them to cease their potentially destabilizing behavior in both the Indo-Pacific region and now in the European theater as well. And like my colleague here, Minister Kim, I call upon them to withdraw their troops out of Russia.
It does have the potential of lengthening the conflict or broadening the conflict if that continues. MR. RYDER: Our next question will go to Courtney Kube, NBC. Q: Thank you. Mr. Secretary, you told Phil that you — the US will continue to watch this deployment and work with allies to discourage it. But how specifically can the US or the international community actually stop? Is there anything the US can do? And you just said that that this does have the potential for broadening the conflict.
Does that mean that you see the possibility that if in fact Russian troops are fighting alongside North Korean troops that that means other countries could send troops perhaps even to fight alongside the Ukrainians in an advisory level or fighting or anything? And then just one more, this is my real question. Those were follow ups.
My real question is just what happens when North Korean troops are killed by US provided weapons? And then Minister Kim, do you see any signs that North Korea plans to interfere in the US elections? We — your DIA said today that DPRK may be ready to launch an ICBM, perhaps a nuclear weapon.
Is there any indication that that could be or other actions that they may be taking could be specifically to interfere with the US election? Thank you. You only get one. SEC. AUSTIN: So Courtney, the first of your 20 questions here was whether or not we can stop the DPRK from sending troops. We certainly can work with others to discourage this — this kind of behavior. But I didn’t mean to imply that we can stop that. But certainly, their actions have consequences as all actions have consequences.
And we need to be mindful of that. In terms of what could happen, you mentioned my reference to potentially broadening this conflict. Yes, it could encourage others to take action, different kinds of action, but I won’t speculate on what could exactly happen. But we — there are a number of things that could happen.
And what happens when DPRK soldiers are killed with US provided weapons? Well, if the DPRK soldiers are fighting alongside Russian soldiers in this conflict and attacking Ukrainian soldiers, Ukrainian soldiers have the right to defend themselves and they will do that with the weapons that we provided and others have provided.
That’s to be expected. But if they are fighting alongside of — of Russian soldiers, they are co-belligerents and you have every reason to believe that those kinds of things will happen, that they will be killed and wounded as a result of battle. DEFENSE MINISTER KIM YONG-HYUN: (Via interpreter) Thank you for giving 20 questions to Secretary Austin, but only one for me. I’m so happy. So on your question about the possibility that North Korea attempts to interfere with US presidential election, my short answer is that the possibility is not high. I believe there isn’t a high chance of them attempting to interfere with the election.
However, I believe there is a high chance that they would want to exaggerate their existence around the season of US presidential election before and after the election. The expected courses of action that North Korea could take in their attempt to provoke could be either their launch of ICBM or their seventh nuclear tests. MR. RYDER: Thank you. Our final question will go to Ji-ho Yang, Chosun. Q: (Via interpreter) This is Reporter Yang from Chosun Daily. First, I have a question to Minister Kim. The main opposition party of Republic of Korea has expressed their opposition to North Korea’s dispatch of analysis team and Korean delegation to Ukraine. So from your perspective, Minister Kim, what do you think is the role that Korean military can play in Ukraine?
And I have another — I have a question to Secretary Austin. So it is my understanding that the current assessment of the United States DOD is that North Korea did deploy troops to Ukraine — to Russia, however, they were not involved in any combats at the moment. So however, some are claiming that North Korean troops that are — are already being deployed are being — are already being in engagement.
So like, what would be your standard to determine whether the participation of these North Korean troops will be deployment or actual participation in combat operations? And also you have — US DOD has also made a statement that the North Korean troops who are in Russia will also be classified as enemies that can be attacked by — by US weapons that are supplied to Ukraine.
So could you give a little more elaboration on this statement? This concludes my question. DEFENSE MINISTER KIM YONG-HYUN: So I recall the question was about our observers and monitoring teams of Korea that are — that are and could be sent to Ukraine. So throughout the history in many different wars, including the Iraq war, there have been many
cases where we have sent monitoring teams or lesson learned analysis team to the countries that are currently — that were in war.
The role of such observers or analysis team play in the war is mainly analysis of the trends of the modern warfare or different aspects of modern welfare. And especially as we have confirmed North Korean troops were deployed to Russia, I believe it could serve as a great opportunity for our analysis team or observer to learn the movements or trends of the North Korean troops.
In many wars there — we have witnessed many new and diverse weapon systems continuously popping up and also we were able to witness many different modern tactics in the war. I believe if we can collect such information diligently and then utilize it for our future safety of — and stability of our country, I believe it can serve as an opportunity for us to provide better protection to our — the people of Republic of Korea.
I believe it is an obvious task that our military should play to send observers and analysis team to the Russia-Ukraine war. And I — I would even say that if we don’t send our observers or analysis team, it would mean that we are not faithfully doing our jobs. SEC. AUSTIN: So thank you for your question. As I understand it, the first question was what was our — what is our standard for determining whether or not the DPRK troops are actually fighting or in the fight. And the second question was whether or not they can be engaged with US weapons. So I think standards are pretty easy.
If they’re fighting, if they’re attacking Ukrainian soldiers and they are co-belligerents, they’re a part of this fight, that’s fairly easy to determine. And it’s not certain that they will be introduced into this fight. But clearly 10,000 soldiers, and some of them are moving west towards the Ukrainian border, then there’s a good likelihood that they will be employed, but we’ll see.
We won’t speculate. We’ll collect evidence. They’re doing this because Putin has lost a lot of troops, a lot of troops. And you know, he has a choice of either getting other people to help him or he can mobilize. And he doesn’t want to mobilize because then the people in Russia will begin to understand the extent of his losses of their losses.
So there’s a good likelihood that these troops will be introduced into combat, not certain, but I think the likelihood is pretty high. But this is not a sign of strength. It’s a sign of weakness. Putin has not achieved one strategic objective in two and a half years against a force that was far inferior to his force. That’s a sign of weakness. Again, he’s gone to other countries for weapons and munitions and now he’s going to other countries for people. And as I said earlier, if they are fighting and they’re co-belligerents, they’re attacking Ukrainian troops and the Ukrainian troops have the right to defend themselves, and we have every expectation that they will.
They’ll use their own weapons. They’ll use the weapons that they’ve been provided, and that won’t be a surprise to anyone. But this doesn’t have to happen. Putin can end this war
today. It was his choice to launch this war. He’s not achieved his objectives. He can end this war and he should end this war.
Otherwise, we’ll see a lot more losses on both sides and that’s really highly unnecessary. But I think in terms of our standards for determining whether or not they’re fighting, they’re in the fight, I think it’ll be pretty easy to determine that. OK. MAJ. GEN. RYDER: Secretary Austin, Minister Kim, thank you both, gentlemen. Ladies and gentlemen, that’s all the time we have available today. This concludes our press briefing. Thank you.
