Anchor: Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held talks on Monday and reaffirmed Washington’s commitment to use the full range of military capabilities to defend South Korea. They also agreed to update their deterrence strategies to more effectively counter evolving North Korean threats. 
Kim Bum-soo has more.

Report: Seoul and Washington have updated their joint nuclear deterrence strategies to deal with the evolving nuclear threats from North Korea.

Defense Minister Shin Won-sik and U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin held the allies' annual Security Consultative Meeting(SCM) in Seoul on Monday, and revised their Tailored Deterrence Strategy(TDS) for the first time in ten years.

[Sound bite: Defense Minister Shin Won-sik (Korean-English)]
"The ROK-U.S. alliance now, based on the Washington Declaration announced by the presidents of the Republic of Korea and the United States, will jointly plan and execute conventional support from the ROK to the U.S.' nuclear operations. The extended deterrence will evolve into one that is executed together by the ROK and the U.S." 

[Sound bite: US Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin] 
"Our deterrence commitment to the ROK remains ironclad. That includes the full range of our nuclear, conventional and missile defense capabilities. Today, during the security consultative meeting, Minister Shin and I discussed shared opportunities to strengthen the alliance even further." 

The South Korean defense minister said the changes were necessary to deal with the rapidly changing threats.

A government source reportedly explained that while the previous extended deterrence strategy is based upon the U.S. military's sole nuclear operation, the latest version allows for the joint planning and execution of a nuclear operation involving South Korea's conventional capabilities.

The leaders of the two countries in April agreed to launch the bilateral nuclear consultative group, under which South Korea is more actively involved in the U.S. strategic operations on the Korean Peninsula.

The SCM follows Austin’s meeting with South Korean President Yoon Suk Yeol on Sunday, during which the president addressed evolving threats by North Korea as he called for the allies to stand prepared for any provocation, including a “Hamas-style surprise attack.”
Kim Bum-soo, KBS World Radio News.