Korea leads conventional defense at first NCG

Dec 12, 2025, 09:16 am

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Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back announces the outcomes of the 57th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) at the Ministry of National Defense briefing room in Yongsan, Seoul, on November 14. / Source: Ministry of National Defense

South Korea will take the lead in conventional defense on the Korean Peninsula, while the United States reaffirmed its commitment to provide extended deterrence using the full range of its military capabilities, including nuclear forces, at the fifth meeting of the Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG), the Ministry of National Defense said on December 11.

The meeting was held in Washington, D.C., marking the first NCG session since the launch of the Lee Jae-myung administration in South Korea and the second Trump administration in the United States.

The South Korean delegation was led by Kim Hong-cheol, director general for defense policy at the Ministry of National Defense, while the U.S. side was headed by Robert Soofer, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense for nuclear deterrence, chemical and biological defense policy and programs.

According to a joint press statement, South Korea emphasized that it will play a leading role in conventional defense on the Korean Peninsula. The United States, for its part, reaffirmed its pledge to provide extended deterrence to South Korea by leveraging all categories of U.S. military capabilities, including nuclear weapons.

The two sides held in-depth discussions across all aspects of extended deterrence, including information sharing, consultation and communication procedures, conventional and nuclear integration (CNI), joint exercises, simulations and training, to sustain and strengthen nuclear deterrence policy and posture.

They also assessed that NCG activities—such as advanced nuclear deterrence education, the NCG tabletop simulation (TTS), and CNI tabletop exercises (TTX)—enhance the alliance’s cooperative decision-making in potential nuclear contingency scenarios on the Korean Peninsula.

#South Korea #United States #Nuclear Consultative Group #NCG #extended deterrence