U.S. Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin said that the U.S. will continue to "shore up" peace and security on the Korean Peninsula in the midst of North Korea’s ongoing provocations. 

The U.S. defense chief made the remarks in a written statement to the U.S. Senate Committee on Armed Services regarding the Pentagon’s budget request for the 2025 fiscal year. 

Austin reportedly said that the U.S. is reinforcing its extended deterrence commitment and strengthening bilateral and trilateral cooperation with its allies in South Korea and Japan. He added that the joint defense efforts include information sharing, joint exercises, new missile warning data-sharing systems and increased rotations of U.S. troops.

The secretary added that the 2025 budget request will ensure that U.S. forces in and around the Korean Peninsula remain ready to respond to aggression from North Korea. 

He also said that the U.S. has increased the rotational deployment of strategic assets to the Korean Peninsula and resumed large-scale joint live-fire exercises with South Korea to reduce the threat posed by North Korea’s nuclear weapons and ballistic missile programs.