South Korea and the United States will hold the 29th session of the Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD), a high-level defense consultation body, in Busan for three days beginning Sept. 16.
The Ministry of National Defense said on the 14th that the talks would run from Sept. 16 to 18 in Busan.
KIDD was launched in 2011 to provide timely and effective security consultations between the two countries. The two sides have taken turns hosting the meeting once or twice a year. The upcoming session comes about four months after the 28th meeting, held in Washington, D.C., in May.
Kim Hong-chul, deputy minister for national defense policy at the ministry, and George LeMoore, U.S. deputy assistant secretary of war for East Asia, will lead the respective delegations, which will also include senior defense and foreign affairs officials from both countries.
"At this meeting, South Korea and the United States plan to discuss the full range of alliance security issues, including the transfer of wartime operational control, the combined defense posture and shipbuilding cooperation," the ministry said.
The talks are expected to take up the question of sending troops to the Strait of Hormuz, a request Washington has repeatedly made of South Korea and other allies since the outbreak of the war with Iran earlier this year. If a deployment is ultimately decided, the meeting is expected to produce more specific plans on when the troops would be sent, the size of the deployment, and the mission and force composition of the unit.
The transfer of wartime operational control will also be taken up as a formal agenda item.
The ministry aims to reach an agreement on a target year for the transfer at the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) of the two countries' defense ministers in November. It plans to advance those consultations at this week's talks, which serve as preparation for the SCM.
It is the first time the KIDD meeting has been held somewhere other than Seoul or Washington, D.C.
The ministry said Busan was chosen to underscore the two countries' commitment to shipbuilding cooperation and South Korea's capabilities in the industry.
