U.S. Secretary of Defense Ash Carter has condemned the North’s fourth nuclear test as an “unacceptable and irresponsible provocation,” reaffirming Washington’s commitment to the defense of the peninsula including through its extended deterrence, Seoul‘s Defense Minister Han Min-koo said Thursday.

The two countries issued a statement after Han spoke with Carter late Wednesday on the phone, during which they said the latest experiment constitutes a flagrant violation of international law and threat to the peace and stability of the peninsula and the region. 

“Secretary Carter reaffirmed the U.S.’ ironclad commitment to the defense of South Korea, and that this commitment includes all aspects of its extended deterrence,” Han said at a news conference at the ministry.

“We both agreed that the international community does not and will not accept North Korea as a nuclear state ... and North Korea‘s provocations should have consequences.”

To better counter Pyongyang’s threats, the minister pledged to continue planned joint exercises and establish a tailored deterrence strategy and operational plans based on the principles of “4D” -- detect, defense, disrupt and destroy.

“Detect” represents the allies’ procedures to track North Korea’s missile movements with various intelligence-gathering assets, while “defense” refers to a set of the allied defensive operations to minimize any damage from potential attacks.

“Disrupt” means striking North Korea’s core missile facilities, including supporting installations, followed by the allies’ efforts to “destroy” its mobile transporter-erector-launchers and incoming missiles. The allies have been working to translate the concept into their wartime operational plans.

“I emphasized that we will put priority on developing our military’s Kill Chain preemptive strike system and Korea Air and Missile Defense program (to be built by the early 2020s),” Han added.

By Shin Hyon-hee (heeshin@heraldcorp.com)