Trump contradicts U.S. military stance
Comments on ‘war games’ in S. Korea cause confusion
WASHINGTON — President Donald Trump’s abrupt announcement Tuesday that he will suspend U.S. military drills in South Korea appeared to catch the Pentagon and the Seoul government flat-footed, and contradicted a pillar of Defense Secretary Jim Mattis’ campaign to make U.S. troops more combat-ready.
During a news conference following his summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un, Trump pushed his unconventional approach even further by calling annual U.S.-South Korean military exercises “provocative.” He also said he’d like to remove all 28,500 U.S. troops stationed in the South, although he made clear this was not a part of current negotiations.
The U.S. has stationed combat troops in South Korea since the end of the 1950-53 war and has used them in a variety of large-scale drills designed to sharpen skills and test troops’ ability to operate effectively with their South Korean partners.
The next scheduled major exercise, known as Ulchi Freedom Guardian and involving tens of thousands of troops, normally is held in August.
In the wake of Trump’s unexpected, almost offhand comments to reporters, the Pentagon had nothing to say about the future of the war games. Several hours after Trump’s remarks, the Pentagon put out a brief statement welcoming “positive news” from Singapore, but it remained silent on whether Ulchi Freedom Guardian will proceed. Mattis’ chief spokeswoman, Dana W. White, told reporters he was “in full alignment” with Trump and had been consulted in advance on all aspects of the Singapore talks.
“There were no surprises,” she said.
If Mattis was aware that Trump was going to announce a suspension of military exercises, he apparently did not share that information with the South Koreans or with the military organization most directly affected: U.S. Forces Korea.
That U.S. command said it had “received no updated guidance on the execution or cessation of training exercises.”
The South Korean government also appeared caught off guard. Seoul’s presidential office told The Associated Press that it was trying to parse Trump’s comments. The South Korean military seemed similarly surprised.
“At this current point, there is a need to discern the exact meaning and intent of President Trump’s comments,” Seoul’s Defense Ministry said, adding that there have been no discussions yet with Washington on modifying drills set for August.
A degree of confusion arose after Vice President Mike Pence spoke to senators at a lunch closed to media coverage. Sen. Cory Gardner, R-Colo., said Pence indicated that “exercises will continue,” although Sen. Rand Paul, R-Ky., said this referred to routine, daily training in South Korea, not the large-scale war games that Trump said are suspended.