Seoul/Washington, Dec 7 (DPA) Admiral Michael Mullen, the top US military commander, was heading to South Korea early Tuesday to discuss strategy with Washington’s ally after last month’s attack by North Korea.
Mullen was leading a delegation ‘to enhance coordination on strategic deterrence,’ US Secretary of State Hillary Rodham Clinton said late Monday.
He was to meet Wednesday with his counterpart General Han Min Koo, the South Korean Yonhap News Agency reported.
Clinton spoke after meeting with Japanese Foreign Minister Seiji Maehara and South Korean Foreign Minister Kim Sung Hwan in Washington.
The three condemned North Korea’s lethal shelling of Yeonpyeong island as a violation of the Armistice Agreement of 1953. Clinton vowed the ‘belligerent behaviour’ would be met with ‘solidarity from all three countries.’
The US has a mutual defence agreement with South Korea. Japan is one of Seoul’s main investors and trade partners.
North Korean artillery fire struck the South Korean island of Yeonpyeong Nov 23, killing two soldiers and two civilians, and injuring over a dozen more.
The move came amid heightened tensions after the sinking of a South Korean navy corvette in March, with the loss of 46 lives, which Seoul blames on the North.
The US and Japan have called on China, Pyongyang’s closest ally, to rein in the North’s aggressive behaviour.
