Secretary of Defense Lloyd Austin urged the U.S. Congress on the 3rd to process the budget for modernizing nuclear forces necessary to defend South Korea and its allies.
At the Reagan Defense Forum held in Simi Valley, California, on the same day, Secretary Austin explained the U.S. efforts to strengthen war deterrence, saying that the next few years will determine the competitive landscape with China and the security future of Europe.
As one way to ensure deterrence, he said, “deterrence means safe, reliable and effective nuclear weapons as the ultimate defense against strategic aggression against our country and its allies, including NATO, Japan and South Korea.” said.
“That’s why the fiscal year 2023 budget includes a budget of $34 billion (about 44 trillion won) to continue modernizing the three nuclear forces (intercontinental ballistic missiles, strategic bombers, and nuclear submarines) and strengthening nuclear command and control communications capabilities,” he said.
“The Department of Defense is focusing more on the Indo-Pacific, which is a major theater of war, and is working to mobilize and deploy US forces more quickly,” Austin said. “We are investing in military construction, logistics and facilities in the region.”
He also said the United States is enjoying a significant increase in combat capability through the alliance, and that Australia is working together to ensure that conventionally armed nuclear-powered submarines are available at the earliest possible time.
“China is the only country with the will and increasingly power to reshape regional and international order according to authoritarian tendencies,” he said.
“We will maintain and strengthen our capabilities to wage war advantageously so that China will never conclude that war is the best course of action,” he said. did.
“Great powers must not be reckless, they must act responsibly. They must communicate honestly and respect the systems of international law, alliances, norms, and agreements that have been difficult to build but which have made us all safer and more prosperous,” he said. “He urged.
He also strongly condemned Russia’s aggression in Ukraine and expressed his strong will to continue supporting Ukraine and defending its NATO territory.