The United States and South Korea have agreed to set up an “integrated research team” to explore specific steps they can take together to counter increasing maritime threats posed by North Korea, a South Korean official said Oct. 20.
The bilateral team will include representatives from South Korea’s defense ministry, joint chiefs of staff and navy and be stood up early next year, South Korean Defense Minister Han Min-koo said through a translator. 
The need for such cooperation was highlighted by the launch of a missile from a North Korean submarine in August, Han said at the Pentagon, where he and Defense Secretary Ash Carter held a joint press briefing.
“There are a number of ways in which naval cooperation can strengthen the alliance in general and the ability to respond to provocations and to conflict,” Carter told reporters. “Naval cooperation is very important, even as we have great cooperation already in our navies, in the air, on land and expanding into cyberspace.”
Carter and Han did not directly answer a question about South Korean press reports that Seoul is considering buying the Raytheon [RTN] Standard Missile-3 (SM-3) interceptor for its destroyers to provide a sea-based missile defense capability.
The Carter-Han press briefing came a day after Secretary of State John Kerry said the United States would deploy a land-based Lockheed Martin [LMT] Terminal High Altitude Area Defense (THAAD) battery to South Korea “as soon as possible.” The THAAD deployment, announced in July, is designed to protect against North Korean ballistic missiles.
Turning to cyberspace, Han said the U.S. and South Korean militaries have agreed to enhance cyber cooperation in response to North Korean attacks and threats. A bilateral task force is expected to propose specific measures in this area.