US, South Korea Discuss Contingency Military Plans

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Last updated at: (Beijing Time) Friday, December 06, 2002

US, South Korea Discuss Contingency Military Plans

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US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld and his South Korean counterpart Lee Jun met here Thursday to discuss the situation on the Korean peninsula and military planning for any conceivable contingencies.

"Our job at defense ministries is to plan. It's to be arranged to deter and to defend our people," US Defense Secretary Donald Rumsfeld told reporters at a joint press conference at the Pentagon with Lee.

Rumsfeld said he and Lee did discuss contingency military plans at their meeting, but he noted that these plans were classified.

"It means we need to plan and be arranged for any conceivable contingency, and that's what we've done successfully for some 50 years, that's what we're doing today, and that's what we'll do in the future," he said.

As to how to deal with the nuclear issue of the Democratic People's Republic Korea (DPRK), Rumsfeld said both sides agreed to continue consultation and coordination with other countries in the region.

Lee, for his part, stressed that South Korea will maintain existing cooperation and exchange projects with the DPRK so that the lines of communications between the two sides are kept open.

"We have to maintain these projects because they allow us to maintain a dialogue channel with North Korea (DPRK)," the South Korean minister said.

"While we should exert pressure, we must also seek to devise a harmonious resolution," he added.

Lee described DPRK's nuclear issue as "a serious problem," saying that Pyongyang must assume full responsibility in resolving the issue in a verifiable manner.

DPRK officials reportedly admitted that the DPRK had nuclear weapon programs at a meeting with a US delegation in Pyongyang two months ago.

A statement issued later by DPRK Foreign Ministry said that the DPRK has the right to develop nuclear weapons in face of growing threats from the United States.

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