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South Korean Defense Minister Suh Wook exchanges a fist bump with US Adm. Charles Richard, commander of the US Strategic Command, in Seoul on Wednesday. (provided by the Ministry of National Defense)

The admiral in charge of the US nuclear arsenal has paid back-to-back visits to Japan and South Korea. Officials from the two countries would only say that Adm. Charles Richard, commander of US Strategic Command, had “exchanged opinions about the security situation in the region” without disclosing the exact purpose of his visit.

“Defense Minister Suh Wook received Adm. Charles Richard on the morning of July 14, and the two men traded opinions about the alliance’s stance on deterrence and the security situation on the Korean Peninsula and in the region,” South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense said in a press release on Wednesday.

During their meeting, Suh “emphasized the importance of maintaining close cooperation between military officials from our two countries to counter the threat of North Korea’s nuclear weapons and missiles,” while Richard “emphasized the US Strategic Command’s perfect readiness regarding the pledge of extended deterrence that US President Joe Biden reconfirmed to South Korea in their summit this past May.”

“Extended deterrence” signifies the nuclear umbrella provided by the US.

After that, Richard met with the chiefs of staff of the South Korean army, navy, and air force and Gen. Won In-choul, chairman of the joint chiefs of staff, to discuss ways to increase bilateral cooperation.

On Monday, Richard had visited Tokyo, where he met with Japanese Defense Minister Nobuo Kishi and Foreign Minister Toshimitsu Motegi.

In a written summary of the meeting, Japan’s Ministry of Foreign Affairs said the two sides had “traded opinions about the policy of extended deterrence and about the security environment in the region, including with China and North Korea.”

The next day, Japanese newspaper Nihon Keizai Shimbun reported that Kishi had emphasized that “a firmer Japan-US alliance is indispensable,” given China’s military buildup. Richard’s trip to Japan and South Korea was his first trip overseas since he was appointed to his current position in Nov. 2019.

Varying guesses have been made about the purpose of Richard’s trip to East Asia, which can be regarded as unusual.

The Nihon Keizai Shimbun favored the interpretation that Richard had come to check on matters related to the pledge of extended deterrence that Biden made in his summits with the leader of Japan in April and with the leader of South Korea in May.

Richard may also have wanted to assess readiness and share opinions with the two American allies about new nuclear threats. Those could include the submarine-launched ballistic missiles that North Korea is currently developing or the more than 100 ICBM silos that China is building in the desert of its northwestern Gansu Province, according to a July 1 report in the Washington Post.

By Gil Yun-hyung, staff reporter

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