WASHINGTON, Aug. 14, 2017 — Marine Corps Gen. Joe Dunford, chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, met today with South Korea's defense minister, Song Young-Moo, and defense chief, Gen. Lee Sun-Jin, the chairman's spokesman said in a statement following the meeting.

During the meetings, Dunford affirmed the ironclad commitment of the U.S. to the alliance with South Korea, Navy Capt. Darryn James said. "He stressed that North Korea's ballistic missile and nuclear weapons programs threaten the entire global community and endanger peace and stability in the region."

To meet this threat, Dunford encouraged strengthening trilateral cooperation between the U.S., South Korea and Japan while working to achieve a complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the captain said. "He conveyed America's readiness to use the full range of military capabilities to defend our allies and the U.S. homeland," James said.

Dunford also thanked Lee, who is retiring, for his service to South Korea and for his personal friendship over the last two years as they worked to strengthen the U.S.-South Korean alliance, the captain said.