Defense officials from South Korea and the United States met in Seoul on Monday for the allies' annual Security Consultative Meeting(SCM).

This year's discussions center on the two sides' extended deterrence under the stewardship of defense minister Shin Won-sik and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin.

Talks on bolstering the enforcement of extended deterrence will likely include the operation of the nuclear consultative group that was agreed between the two countries' leaders in April.

An official from Seoul's defense ministry said last Thursday that the allies are expected to consult on a revision to their 2013 Tailored Deterrence Strategy reflecting a military response to a nuclear attack by North Korea.

Aside from a joint statement, the defense chiefs are likely to announce an alliance defense vision classifying the North as a shared threat for the first time since 2019, when references to Pyongyang were omitted from the vision amid a reconciliatory mood between the two Koreas.

Shin and Austin are also expected to exchange views on Seoul's push to suspend the 2018 inter-Korean military agreement aimed at diffusing cross-border tensions, which has been criticized for limiting Seoul's military surveillance and reconnaissance capabilities.