SEOUL (Reuters). – U.S. Secretary Of Defense Lloyd Austin, along with other military leaders were scheduled to meet in South Korea Wednesday to discuss their future military alliance as well as plans for countering North Korean threats.

Austin arrived on Wednesday afternoon. General Mark Milley (chairman of the Joint Chiefs of Staff) arrived earlier.

They were to attend annual consultative meetings in South Korea. South Korea hosts approximately 28,500 troops.

These meetings mark the beginning of a “Security Consultative Meeting”, the official first meeting between allies, since U.S. president Joe Biden assumed office in January.

Seoul seeks to convince Washington to endorse an “endof war declaration” to help restart the stalled North Korean denuclearisation negotiations. Although U.S. officials support such a declaration they caution that there could be differences with South Korea regarding the order of these measures.

North Korea claims that the United States and South Korea are causing tensions through their military operations. Allies, however, say they need to stop the North.

Seoul’s focus on South Korea’s wartime efforts to “operationally control” its military forces will also be a major topic. At the moment, an American general would be in command of these forces during war.

This transition was slowed by the COVID-19 epidemic, which caused key drills to be cancelled.

According to a joint statement, Milley and General In-Choul Won met on Wednesday with the Chairman of South Korea’s Joint Chiefs of Staff.

According to the statement, “General Milley and General Won recognized the strength of the alliance during discussions and highlighted notable achievements in cooperation.”

Milley also highlighted the United States’ commitment to provide “extended deterrence” to South Korea. Milley was referring to Washington’s pledge to support its ally, with nuclear weapons, if necessary.

Austin will meet Defence Minister Suh Wook and attend ceremonial functions on Thursday.