hankyoreh

Soliers of the combined forces take part in a joint military exercise at a beach in Pohang

As tensions on the Korean Peninsula subside — tensions which intensified following U.S. President Donald Trump’s “fire and fury” remarks and North Korea’s threats to fire missiles near Guam — rumors from Washington, DC suggest that a review of the potential reduction or adjustment of the US-South Korea joint military exercises may be in the works.

A diplomatic source in Washington, who spoke on condition of anonymity, said on Aug. 16, “I know that the Trump Administration is seriously considering the possibility of minimizing the joint US-South Korea military drills,” and added that “it seems that there are secret negotiations happening between North Korea and the US.”

Another well-placed source said, “I know that the US is leaning towards adjusting or minimizing parts of the drills in the joint US-South Korea Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, which begins on the 21st.” The source also added that “this might be related to how Kim Jong-un, Chairman of the Workers’ Party of Korea, backed down on his threat to launch missiles toward Guam.”

On August 16, President Trump took to Twitter to praise Chairman Kim’s decision to take a step back to wait and watch the behavior of the US, tweeting, “Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision.”

Another Washington D.C. source, familiar with both the South Korean and U.S. situation, said, “Realistically, it’s difficult to minimize or adjust the scope of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise, which is happening very soon,” but also added that, “however, offering the possibility of minimizing and adjusting the next exercise could be part of a viable negotiation strategy toward North Korea.” A source at South Korea’s Ministry of Defense also said, “There will be no minimization or adjustment of the scale of the military exercise. Because it is a command post exercise (CPX) it would be meaningless.”

On a related note, at a press briefing for foreign journalists held in Washington D.C. on the same day, U.S. State Department spokesperson Heather Nauert avoided a straightforward response to a question about whether the U.S. was considering scaling down the US-South Korea joint military exercises, saying, “That is not under the jurisdiction of the State Department, but rather the Department of Defense. We will continue with the joint military exercises.” Asked a second time about the possibility of minimized joint military exercises, Nauert once more repeated that “If there is a change in the tempo of the joint military exercises, it is under the jurisdiction of the Department of Defense.”

Nauert also said that, regarding the conditions for opening dialogue with North Korea on denuclearization, a suspension of nuclear tests, missile launch tests, and activities contributing to the instability of the region would be a superb show of goodwill. She added that although those things would be a good starting point, the prospect of negotiations is still a long ways off. In a joint op-ed published on August 13, U.S. Secretary of State Rex Tillerson and Secretary of Defense James Mattis pointed out that a token of goodwill from North Korea would have to include “the immediate cessation of its provocative threats, nuclear tests, missile launches and other weapons tests.”

By Yi Yong-in, Washington correspondent, and Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

Please direct questions or comments to [english@hani.co.kr]