US Army and South Korean troops during the 2015 Foal Eagle military exercise. File photo: AP
Source:
https://scmp.com/news/asia/east-asia/article/2188396/us-and-south-korea-end-biggest-joint-military-exercises East Asia
Donald Trump tries to coax North Korea to give up nukes as US ends key military drills
- South Korea and the US are eliminating their massive springtime military drills and replacing them with smaller exercises
- The decision comes days after the conclusion of US President Donald Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Hanoi
Foal Eagle is the biggest of the regular joint exercises held by the allies, and has always infuriated Pyongyang. File photo: AP
US President Donald Trump said that North Korea does not have any economic future with nuclear weapons as the Pentagon confirmed the United States and South Korea had agreed to end joint large scale spring military exercises.
“North Korea has an incredible, brilliant economic future if they make a deal, but they don’t have any economic future if they have nuclear weapons,” Trump said at a Conservative Political Action Conference.
He added that the relationship with North Korea seemed to be “very, very strong”.
According to a statement, acting Pentagon Chief Patrick Shanahan spoke with his South Korea counterpart on Saturday and they agreed to adapt their training programmes.
The two “made clear that the Alliance decision to adapt our training programme reflected our desire to reduce tension and support our diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula in a final, fully verified manner,” the Pentagon said.
South Korea’s military issued a similar statement also confirming plans to end the spring joint military exercises.
Special Representative for Korean Peninsula Peace and Security Affairs Lee Do-hoon is planning to visit the United States in the coming week to meet US officials to discuss the second US-North Korea summit as well as the future agenda, according to a South Korean official.
The Pentagon said the US and South Korea had agreed to “newly designed Command Post exercises and revised field training programmes”.
US officials have long said the scope of the spring exercises, known as Foal Eagle and Key Resolve, would be reduced.
In Vietnam last week, the second meeting between Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jon-un ended without a deal on sanctions relief North Korea would get in exchange for steps to give up its nuclear programme.
Trump on Saturday addressed criticism from the parents of Otto Warmbier, an American student who died after 17 months in a North Korean prison.
They had complained when Trump said at a Hanoi news conference that he believed Kim had nothing to do with Warmbier’s death.
Forget Trump and Kim – North Korea’s first sister Kim Yo-jong lurks, hovers and steals the spotlight
Forget Trump and Kim – North Korea’s first sister Kim Yo-jong lurks, hovers and steals the spotlight
Trump said he was trying to maintain “a delicate balance” to coax the North Koreans into giving up their nuclear programme.
The United States and North Korea have said they intend to continue talks, but have not specified when.
Some observers credited Trump for refusing to be drawn into a bad deal. Others criticised him for praising Kim’s leadership and accepting his assertion that he had been unaware of Warmbier’s treatment.
US President Donald Trump disembarks from Air Force One after his Hanoi trip. Photo: AFP
Analysts believe North Korea has 20 to 60 nuclear warheads which could threaten the U.S. mainland if fitted to its intercontinental ballistic missiles.
The United Nations and the United States ratcheted up sanctions when North Korea conducted nuclear and ballistic missile tests in 2017.
Washington has demanded complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation before sanctions can be lifted, a position Pyongyang has denounced as “gangster like”.