ⓒYONHAP News

South Korea and the U.S. have agreed to update their wartime contingency plans to counter North Korea's rising nuclear and missile threat.

At a press hearing held after the annual joint Security Consultative Meeting(SCM) on Thursday, visiting U.S. Defense Secretary Lloyd Austin said he "approved a new Strategic Planning Guidance"(SPG) to update the allies' wartime operational plans.

The new guidance will upgrade countering capabilities of the existing operations plan(OPLAN) 5027 and 5015 against North Korea's nuclear and missile threat. It is their first upgrade of the plans in 11 years.

On the transfer of wartime operational control, Defense Minister Suh Wook said a full operational capability(FOC) assessment will be conducted next year. The FOC is the second phase of a three-phase assessment on South Korea's independent wartime operational capability. 

Minister Suh also said the two allies agreed to relocate the Combined Forces Command headquarters from Yongsan to Pyeongtaek within next year.