S.Korea, USA hold annual defense ministers' meeting in Seoul

Referring to Pyongyang's undeterred adamance on the planned launch of a ballistic missile launch and a proposed nuclear test, both prohibited under United Nations regulations, Carter said: "Both are stark reminders that North Korea is an upclose, unsafe and continuing threat to the security of the peninsula and the region".

But on Monday Carter said the deployment of THAAD would not be the outcome of a unilateral US decision, South Korean newspaper JoongAng Ilbo reported.

On his way to South Korea, Carter noted that Beijing's actions are pushing nations in the region to seek stronger security cooperation with the United States, saying the incident was "having the effect of causing many countries in the region to want to intensify their security cooperation" with the United States.

"Being here shows you up close just how unsafe this part of the world is", Carter said. The focal point of the conference will be on how South Korea would act independently, without the help of the American military, if North Korea invades, according to ABC News.

US Defence Secretary Ashton Carter on Sunday visited the Demilitarised Zone (DMZ) dividing the Korean peninsula and renewed calls for North Korea to avoid provocations and step away from its nuclear programme.

Under the latest deal, South Korean authorities will raise the fines they slap on Chinese fishing vessels that violated rules to 300 million won (US$263,400) from 200 million won, and also have the option to directly confiscate the catch from Chinese fishermen instead of handing the matter over to Chinese authorities.

An unidentified South Korean official told the JoongAng that the United States has not arrived at a final decision on THAAD and if the system were deployed on a US military base, Seoul would be consulted first. In practical terms, it means ending the current arrangement in which an American four-star officer, now Army Gen. Curtis Scaparrotti, would take operational control of South Korean troops in the event of war with the North, in addition to leading US troops. "You see that by the strength of our soldiers here and their South Korean counterparts".

The US has had lead responsibility for the defense of South Korea since the two countries signed a Mutual Defense Treaty in 1953 following the cease-fire that ended fighting in the Korean War, but not hostilities.

"South Korea expected to receive technology transfer in its eight billion dollar purchase of F-35 Joint Strike fighter jets from the Unites States", Smith added. He travels on to Malaysia for the Association of Southeast Asian Nations Defense Ministers Plus meeting in Kuala Lumpur.