U.S. nuclear-powered aircraft carrier Reagan arrives in Busan on Sept. 23, 2022. Yonhap

Acting Defense Minister Kim Seon-ho and U.S. Indo-Pacific Commander Adm. Samuel Paparo concurred Friday on the importance of trilateral security cooperation with Japan to deter North Korea's threats and vowed efforts to further strengthen such cooperation, the defense ministry said.

Kim and Paparo discussed the issue as they met at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, 70 kilometers south of Seoul, on the sidelines of a change-of-command ceremony marking the inauguration of new U.S. Forces Korea Commander Gen. Xavier Brunson.

In their meeting, both sides agreed that the South Korea-U.S. alliance remains "ironclad," and vowed to bolster cooperation and communications to uphold it with an overwhelming combined defense posture, the ministry said.

For such a goal, they concurred on the need to smoothly push ahead with pre-planned combined drills.

Kim was quoted as saying that South Korea's external policy remains unchanged and emphasized that the military remains committed to maintaining a firm combined defense posture under the acting president.

Friday's meeting was attended by Brunson as well as U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Philip Goldberg and Gen. Kang Shin-chul, deputy commander of the South Korea-U.S. Combined Forces Command. (Yonhap)