AlQa'dah 29, 1432, Oct 27, 2011, SPA -- U.S. Defense Secretary Leon Panetta met Thursday with top South Korean leaders to offer personal reassurances of American support and security cooperation against the threat of attack by North Korea, according to AP. The talks, on Panetta's first trip to Asia as Pentagon chief, are part of a broader Obama administration effort to shore up South Korean confidence in a military alliance that has endured for six decades. Panetta met with the South Korean defense and foreign affairs chiefs and paid a courtesy call on President Lee Myung-bak. In parallel talks, the new chairman of the U.S. Joint Chiefs of Staff, Army Gen. Martin Dempsey, and top officers from the U.S. Pacific Command met with top South Korean military officers for an annual review of the U.S.-South Korean military alliance. Panetta is to attend a second round of alliance talks Friday before flying home.
