Military authorities from South Korea and the United States agreed on the need to closely coordinate responses to new types of provocations by North Korea including trash-carrying balloons.

The discussion was part of the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue held in Seoul on Tuesday, led by Deputy Minister for Defense Policy Cho Chang-rae and Anka Lee, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia.

During the meeting, the allies reaffirmed a joint goal to achieve the North's complete denuclearization, while the U.S. reaffirmed an earlier pledge to defend its ally using all capabilities, including its nuclear and conventional assets.

Expressing concern over Pyongyang's latest series of trash balloons floating south of the border, the allies agreed on the need for a closely coordinated response against "gray zone" provocations, such as threatening acts near the Northern Limit Line(NLL), the de facto maritime border in the Yellow Sea, as well as cyber attacks. 

North Korea has launched thousands of balloons carrying trash toward South Korea since late May in retaliation against anti-Pyongyang leaflets sent north of the border by defector groups in the South.