Delayed US and South Korean drills to proceed
The US and South Korea will begin small-scale military drills on Monday that were delayed during talks with North Korea, days after Pyongyang threatened to restart work on its nuclear programme if international pressure does not ease.
The Korean marine exchange programme was among the training drills that were 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 often criticised by the North.
A spokesperson for South Korea’s ministry of defence confirmed a round of training will begin near the city of Pohang.
About 500 US and South Korean marines will participate in the manoeuvres, the Yonhap news agency reported.
In Washington last week, South Korea’s defence minister said Washington and Seoul will make a decision by December on major joint military exercises for 2019. Vigilant Ace, which was suspended in October, is one of several such exercises that have been halted to encourage dialogue with Pyongyang.
However, the biggest combat-readiness war game staged in and around Japan has gone ahead, however, with the nuclear-powered aircraft carrier USS Ronald Reagan joining Japanese destroyers and a Canadian warship in the ocean off Japan another important player in the effort to pressure North Korea.
North Korea warned on Friday that it could restart development of its nuclear programme if the US does not drop its campaign of “maximum pressure” and sanctions.
“The improvement of relations and sanctions are incompatible,” a foreign ministry official said in a statement released through state-run KCNA news agency. “The US thinks that its oft-repeated ‘sanctions and pressure’ lead to ‘denuclearisation’. We cannot help laughing at such a foolish idea.”
North Korea has not tested a ballistic missile or nuclear weapon for nearly a year.
The country has said it has shuttered its main nuclear test site with plans to dismantle several more facilities.
In recent weeks, North Korea has pressed more sharply for what it regards as reciprocal concessions by the US as well as other countries.
“As shown, the US is totally to blame for all the problems on the Korean peninsula, including the nuclear issue, and therefore the very one that caused all those must untie the knot it made,” Friday’s statement read.
US officials have remained sceptical of Kim’s commitment to give up the nuclear arsenal he has already amassed, however, and Washington says it will not support easing international sanctions until more verified progress is made.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in has forged ahead with efforts to engage with North Korea in recent months, raising US concerns that Seoul could weaken pressure on North Korea to give up nuclear weapons.