South Korea and the United States have agreed to explore various measures to stave off potential North Korean provocations, the allies said Thursday, reaffirming that Pyongyang's saber-rattling poses a grave threat to their alliance.

After the two-day Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD), a biannual high-level security meeting, in Washington D.C., the Ministry of National Defense and the U.S. Department of Defense issued a joint press statement that called for the North to renounce its nuclear program in a "complete, verifiable and irreversible" manner.

In the statement, the allies highlighted that Pyongyang's continued provocations including its fourth nuclear test and a series of ballistic missile tests, including submarine-launched missiles, have threatened the peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula and beyond.

At a session of the allies' Deterrence Strategy Committee (DSC) -- held on the sidelines of the KIDD, Washington said that it would run the whole range of its military capabilities to continuously provide and strengthen its extended deterrence for the defense of South Korea.

Extended deterrence refers to the U.S.' stated commitment to mobilize a full range of its military assets, both nuclear and conventional, to effectively counter the threats from Pyongyang's weapons of mass destruction (WMD).

A source familiar with the security talks said that during the talks, the allies have made some progress in fleshing out the so-called "4D" operational concept, a proactive defense concept.

The 4D stands for "detect, defense, disrupt and destroy" -- the four major steps to counter Pyongyang's nuclear and missile attacks.

Also on the sidelines of the KIDD, the two sides held another defense dialogue, called the Security Policy Initiative (SPI), and discussed ways to bolster bilateral cooperation in the defense industry and strategic realms of outer space and cyberspace.

The partners also discussed trilateral cooperation involving Japan on the issues of maritime security and the spread of terrorism and religious extremism, particularly in the volatile Middle Eastern region. 

The KIDD forum this time brought together South Korea's Defense Deputy Minister for policy Yoo Jeh-seung and U.S. Assistant Secretary of Defense David Shear, along with Abraham Denmark, deputy assistant secretary of defense for East Asia, and Elaine Bunn, deputy assistant secretary for nuclear and missile defense policy.

The South Korean foreign ministry's director-general for North America Yeo Seung-bae and U.S. Special Representative for North Korea Policy Sung Kim also joined the bilateral talks.

Launched in 2011, KIDD is a comprehensive defense meeting between the allies that integrates four existing consultative meetings -- the Security Policy Initiative, Extended Deterrence Policy Committee, Strategic Alliance 2015 Working Group and Counter Missile Capability Committee. The EDPC and CMCC were merged to launch the DSC last year. (Yonhap)