hankyoreh

The USS John C. Stennis of the US Navy docks at Busan Naval Base to partake in South Korea-US joint military exercises on Mar. 3

A military agreement signed between South and North Korea on Sept. 19 of last year put a stop to all land-, sea-, and air-based hostile activities between them. A pilot withdrawal of guard posts (GPs) in the Demilitarized Zone has also been completed. But no news has yet to emerge on other areas that are the focus of interest, including free access to Panmunjom for civilian tourists and the establishment of an inter-Korean joint military committee. A decision on whether to hold joint military exercises between South Korea and the US has also yet to be finalized despite an announcement being scheduled for early last month. With the pause button apparently in effect on efforts to reduce military tensions ahead of the second North Korea-US summit, the next question is whether the push will resume once the summit is over.

According to military sources on Feb. 20, South Korean and US military authorities plan to adjust the scope of the Foal Eagle combined field training exercise. Typically staged as a large-scale exercise every April, it is to instead be staged throughout the year “at the battalion level and under.” The reduced scale marks a significant difference from past exercises, as it means the exercises will not incorporate the US strategic assets that North Korea has responded sensitively to in the past.

Key Resolve, a large-scale command post exercise (CPX) that South Korea and the US have conducted as an indoor “war game,” is also expected to be reduced from two weeks to around 10 days. The changes mean adjustments to the duration and scale of both computer-based indoor exercises and field exercises by South Korean and US authorities. Another plan currently under discussion between South Korea and the US would involve adopting more neutral names for the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises to avoid needlessly provoking North Korea.

“South Korea and the US are currently coordinating the scale, methods, and duration of their exercises and drills, with an announcement expected to come at a suitable time,” a senior official at the South Korean Ministry of National Defense said, in a message seen as indication that a concrete plan for the exercises will be announced after the Hanoi summit to avoid affecting the discussions there.

At their September 2018 summit in Pyongyang, South and North Korea also agreed to form a trilateral consultative body with the UN to permit free civilian access to the Joint Security Area (JSA) following its demilitarization. This drew attention to whether members of the South Korean public would also be allowed to freely visit the Panmungak and Tongilgak buildings on the North Korean side of Panmunjom. But five months have passed since the agreement with no further news. Allowing free access to the JSA would require a final agreement on “joint operational rules” by North Korean military authorities, the UN Command (US) currently overseeing the JSA, and the South Korean military authorities effectively in charge of its administration, with a decision on how to operate joint operation GPs and ensure free transit for civilian tourists.

“There are currently slight differences in the positions of South and North Korea and the UN command on how to operate a joint management body,” said a military official acquainted with the inter-Korean discussions on implementing the military agreement.

“The final coordination of the joint operational rules is currently under way, and an agreement will need to be reached on that before we can devise a method for operating checkpoints and courses for civilians to freely travel,” the official added.

“South and North Korea and the UN Command all came up with their own ideas for rules, and it will take some time to fine-tune all of the wording to develop one single set of rules.”

As an example, the explanation suggests North Korea and the US have yet to reach an agreement on who is to grant approval going ahead for free civilian access to the JSA within the DMZ, which currently requires UN Command approval. While the UN Command has overseen the JSA as a rule since the armistice agreement was signed in 1953, South Korean military authorities have administered the area in practice; North Korea is reportedly suggesting that both it and South Korea serve as agents in guaranteeing free transit for civilians.

“It looks like resolving this issue will require South and North Korea and the UN Command to all make slight concessions,” a military official said. It’s a climate that could be mellowed somewhat by the outcome of the second North Korea-US summit.

Meanwhile, South and North Korea have set the goal of removing all of their GPs from the DMZ after previously completing the withdrawal of 11 of them by the end of 2018. Observers have predicted the issue will be discussed by the inter-Korean joint military committee the two sides pledged to set up in their Sept. 19 military agreement. But the South Korean Ministry of National Defense (MND) has remained silent on the specifics, saying only that “discussions [with the North] are taking place through the exchanging of documents on the formation and operation of the joint military committee.”

A military source hinted on Feb. 20 that there was “a chance South and North could hold military general-level talks to discuss the matter of additional guard post withdrawals if the military committee meeting is delayed.” The message suggests the MND is not ruling out the possibility of holding military general-level talks between inter-Korean military authorities ahead of a reciprocal Seoul visit by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un once the North Korea-US summit is over. It also indicates a substantial likelihood that the two sides will meet soon after the North Korea-US summit to discuss additional military tension-reducing measures to be announced during Kim’s visit.

By Noh Ji-won, staff reporter

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