A senior South Korean military official has visited the U.S. unit in charge of the country’s nuclear arsenal to discuss the allies’ guidelines for nuclear deterrence and operations, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Friday.

Lt. Gen. Jin Yong-sung, the JCS’ chief director of strategic planning, made the two-day visit to the U.S. Strategic Command in Nebraska from Tuesday, amid joint efforts to better deter evolving North Korean nuclear threats.

On Thursday, the two countries signed the guidelines document designed to provide the principles to strengthen the allies’ deterrence efforts in an integrated manner, after completing its review last month.

During the visit, Jin held talks on ways to integrate South Korea’s advanced conventional forces with U.S. nuclear operations in line with the guidelines, according to the JCS.

The visit came ahead of South Korea’s launch of its own “strategic command” later this year. Jin is tasked with setting up the command, which will oversee operations of key military as
sets, such as ballistic missile submarines.

The JCS said it expects deterrence against North Korean nuclear threats to be “greatly” enhanced through the nuclear operations guidelines and the planned launch of the new command.

Source: Yonhap News Agency