(VOVworld)- South Korea's defense chief Han Min-koo pledged Friday to strengthen Korea’s alliance with the US to ensure peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.

Defense Minister Han Min-koo and experts in a meeting at the defense ministry's headquarters in Seoul on Jan. 13, 2017. (Photo: Yonhap)

Defense Minister Han said at a meeting with defense experts that maintaining a strong alliance with the US is the key to the watertight security of Seoul, adding that the security situation on the Korean Peninsula is grave.

Han said US President-elect Donald Trump's tweets about North Korea’s nuclear program and the Seoul-Washington alliance are a "positive sign" for Seoul’s partnership with the new US administration.

Minister Han’s remarks were made following North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's New Year message that North Korea has reached the final stage of preparations for test firing an intercontinental ballistic missile.

Retired Marine Corps General James Mattis, Trump's nominee for US Defense Secretary, has called the North's nuclear weapon and missile development "a serious threat."