South Korea had started its loudspeaker messaging for the first time in years after two of its soldiers were wounded by North-set landmines in the Korean Demilitarized Zone (DMZ).
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The US and South Korea are expected to issue a joint statement on North Korea, warning it against provocations while leaving the door open to negotiations.
USA officials are keen to revamp and modernize the American military footprint in South Korea by using the nation to host a Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) antiballistic missile system. China has been particularly sensitive to the possible deployment of THAAD systems on the Korean peninsula.
Experts say that the USA grid is deeply vulnerable to cyberattack.
At a friendship dinner on Wednesday evening, Park stressed that South Korea is a reliable partner of the United States, calling the alliance a core of Washington’s rebalancing strategy toward the Asia-Pacific region.
Park will visit the Pentagon and address a Washington think tank Thursday.
A hotline will also be established between the White House and South Korea’s Blue House for closer cooperation on cyber issues.
North Korea’s nuclear weapon and its provocative actions were also on the agenda.
President Obama on Friday said that the United States is willing to “engage” with the North Korean government over its nuclear weapons program, but said that it must be willing to abandon its ambitions to have a nuclear arsenal before any progress could be made. “But we haven’t even gotten to that point yet because there’s been no indication on the part of the North Koreans, as there was with the Iranians, that they could foresee a future in which they did not possess or were not pursuing nuclear weapons”.
The United States sees allies like South Korea as Asian counterweights to the economic and military rise of China.
“North Korea’s continuing development of its nuclear and ballistic missile programs is an ongoing violation of multiple UN Security Council resolutions and is contrary to North Korea’s commitments under the 2005 Joint Statement of the Six-Party Talks”, it said, referring to regional diplomatic efforts to denuclearize the North. Those talks have been stalled since 2009.
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Her comments come on the eve of a meeting with US President Barack Obama, who has been eager to see the two USA allies reconcile. “We want them to be cooperating with us in putting pressure on the DPRK”, Obama noted. Bilateral summit talk with Japanese prime minister Shinzo Abe could be held during these talks as well. The so-called “comfort women” issue is an emotional one in South Korea, where fewer than 50 of the thousands of women coerced into prostitution remain alive. “The trilateral meeting allows us to hold in-depth talks not only with China but also with Japan”, Park noted on Thursday. “I do feel I can have such a meeting with him”, Ms. Park said.
