S Korea, US to hold defense talks this week

SEOUL, Sep 25 (APP/Yonhap): South Korea and the United States will
hold working-level defense talks in Seoul later this week on North Korea
and pending alliance issues, the Ministry of National Defense said
Monday.
The two-day Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) meeting, the
12th of its kind, is to open Thursday at the ministry’s building
in Seoul.
The two sides plan to discuss a range of security issues including
policy coordination against North Korea’s nuclear and missile programs, Washington’s commitment to extended deterrence and the transfer of wartime operational control of South Korean troops, added the ministry.
South Korea will be represented by Chang Kyung-soo, acting chief of
the ministry’s policy planning office. His American counterpart will be Roberta Shea, acting deputy assistant secretary of defense.
Launched in 2011, the biannual KIDD is a comprehensive defense meeting
between the allies.