South Korea, US resume military drills ahead of nuclear talks
- Move complicates talks this week between US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and North Korean officials
About 500 United States and South Korean marines began small-scale military drills on Monday, just days before US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo is set to hold talks with North Korea on denuclearisation and plans for a second summit of their leaders.
The Korean Marine Exchange Program was among the training drills indefinitely suspended in June after US President Donald Trump met North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore and promised to end joint US-South Korea military exercises.
Although larger exercises were suspended, the two countries have continued small-scale drills, the South’s Ministry of National Defense said on Monday, adding that the marines were holding a training round near the southern city of Pohang.
Pompeo, interviewed on broadcaster CBS’s “Face the Nation,” said on Sunday he would be in New York at the end of this week to meet his North Korean counterpart, Kim Yong-chol.
“I expect we’ll make some real progress, including an effort to make sure that the summit between our two leaders can take place, where we can make substantial steps towards denuclearisation,” he added.