Faced with bellicose threats of nuclear war from North Korea, the United Stated and South Korea have established an extended deterrence policy committee. UPI reported Monday that Michael Schiffer, deputy assistant secretary of defense for Asia and Pacific security affairs, and Chang Kwang-il, South Korea’s deputy defense minister, will be co-chairs when the new committee meets for the first time early next year in Washington, D.C. “Extended deterrence” is the US policy of using its nuclear deterrent to protect allies from attack. Schiffer affirmed that the US “stands shoulder-to-shoulder” with South Korea in the face of recent North Korean provocations, reported the Washington Post. Among the rhetoric, North Korean officials have blamed the US and South Korea for “bringing the dark clouds of a nuclear war” over the Korean peninsula. (See also Mullen Tells China to Step Up)
The Space Force recently awarded SpaceX $739 million to launch nine missions for the Space Development Agency and National Reconnaissance Office over the next three years. Five of the awarded launches will be to build out SDA’s constellation of missile warning and tracking satellites in low-Earth orbit.
