Washington, Seoul sign new agreement

The United States and South Korea signed an agreement to strengthen their position in a comprehensive joint defense, to counter what they saw as missile threats by North Korea and ., also agreed to maintain the current level of U.S. forces in Seoul. The two sides revealed the agreement in a joint statement issued last night after the second meeting of the Ministers of Foreign Affairs and Defence of the two countries in Washington. According to Radio Korea International the two countries decided to form a consultative body to discuss ways to meet the threats of North Korean Internet threats, including the jamming of Global Positioning System. In the statement, Seoul and Washington expressed their deep concern about "the safety of the North Korean people and the human rights situation there," and urged Pyongyang government to respect human rights. Foreign and defense ministers of the two countries said the issue of expanding the range of the southern Korean ballistic missiles has not been discussed during the talks and made ??it clear that the two sides will continue to hold talks on this issue.