Joint Press Statement on the Sixth Nuclear Consultative Group Meeting

The United States and the Republic of Korea (ROK) held the sixth U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group (NCG) meeting in Seoul on June 11, 2026. The meeting was co-chaired by Deputy Assistant Secretary of War for Nuclear Deterrence and Countering Weapons of Mass Destruction Policy Dr. Robert Soofer and ROK Deputy Minister for National Defense Policy Dr. Hong-Cheol Kim. The participants included U.S. and ROK defense, foreign affairs, and intelligence officials.

The NCG Co-chairs decided to continuously develop U.S.-ROK NCG activities to strengthen the U.S.-ROK Alliance and extended deterrence in light of Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) advancing nuclear and missile capabilities and the changing security environment. The United States and Republic of Korea confirmed their shared goal to denuclearize North Korea. The United States reaffirmed the commitment to provide extended deterrence to the ROK, utilizing the full range of U.S. capabilities, including nuclear.

During the meeting, both sides reviewed workstreams pursued by the NCG, including security and information sharing, consultation processes during nuclear crisis, U.S.-ROK conventional-nuclear integration (CNI), exercises and training, strategic messaging, and risk reduction. They also discussed various ways to maintain and strengthen the Alliance's nuclear deterrence and readiness posture.

Both sides assessed the efforts of the U.S. and ROK military authorities to develop U.S.-ROK CNI to deter and respond to the DPRK's nuclear threats and agreed to continue its development. In addition, both leaders signed the "U.S.-ROK Nuclear Consultative Group Security Guidelines," for safeguarding information required for NCG activities and consultation.

Both leaders agreed to report the outcomes of the NCG to the Secretary and the Minister at 58th Security Consultative Meeting (SCM), and approved NCG tasks and key activities for the second half of 2026, which include plans to convene the seventh principal-level NCG meeting.