On May 1-2, Korea and the United States will hold the 26th Korea-U.S. Integrated Defense Dialogue (KIDD) meeting in Washington, D.C. According to the defense ministries of both countries, the meeting will take place at the U.S. Department of Defense headquarters, and a joint press statement will be released afterward.
The meeting will be attended by key defense and diplomatic officials from both countries, including Cho Chang-rae, Director of the Defense Policy Division of the Korean Ministry of National Defense, John Noe, Acting Assistant Secretary of Defense for Indo-Pacific Security Affairs, and Andrew Winternitz, Acting Deputy Assistant Secretary of Defense for East Asia from the U.S. Department of Defense.
KIDD, a high-level consultative body established in 2011 for timely and effective security discussions between South Korea and the United States, has been hosted alternately by both countries one to two times a year. This upcoming meeting marks the first since the inauguration of the second Trump administration in January.
In this meeting, South Korea and the United States plan to discuss a wide range of alliance issues, including the deterrence and response coordination against North Korea’s nuclear and missile threats, reaffirmation of the goal of complete denuclearization of North Korea, enhancement of combined defense posture, advancement of wartime operational control transition based on conditions, strengthening of regional security cooperation, and collaboration in defense industries and defense science and technology, such as shipbuilding and maintenance, repair, and operations (MRO).