Northwest Arkansas Democrat-Gazette
Military exercises on hold
U.S., South Korea put off drills until after Olympics.
President Donald Trump and South Korean President Moon Jae-in have agreed to postpone the sprawling joint military exercise their nations hold each year until after the Winter Olympics, in what appears to be an effort to de-escalate tensions with North Korea ahead of an event that will draw people from around the world.
The Olympics will be held in Pyeongchang, a mountainous area of South Korea that is just 60 miles south of the heavily fortified demilitarized zone, where North and South Korean troops have stood off against each other in an uneasy cease-fire since the 1953 armistice in the Korean War.
The military exercise, Foal Eagle, often involves more than 30,000 American and 200,000 South Korean troops, as well as air, ground and naval operations.
Trump and Moon discussed their options Thursday in a phone call. The White House said in a statement that Moon and Trump agreed to “de-conflict” the Olympics and the military exercise so the United States and South Korea “can focus on ensuring the security of the Games.”
“The two leaders agreed to continue the campaign of maximum pressure against North Korea and to not repeat mistakes of the past,” the White House said. “The United States and the Republic of Korea are committed to a safe and successful 2018 Winter Olympic Games in Pyeongchang.”
Army Col. Rob Manning, a Pentagon spokesman, said the decision was made “in the spirit of the Olympic Games.” He did not disclose the specific start date of the exercise, saying only that it will be after the Olympics.
The White House statement and a message from South Korea’s presidential Blue House both said that Trump promised to send a high-level delegation, including members of his family, to the Olympics, which begin Feb. 9.
Moon said in December that he had asked the U.S. military to postpone the joint military exercises until after the Olympics, adding that a delay was contingent on North Korea not conducting any more missile or nuclear tests.
But it was not clear from Thursday’s statement whether North Korea had in fact made such a pledge. Earlier this week, the U.S. ambassador to the United Nations, Nikki Haley, said the United States was hearing reports that North Korea might be preparing for another missile test and warned that would lead to tougher steps against Pyongyang.
Moon favors dialogue to reduce tensions with Pyongyang and sees the Olympics as a “groundbreaking chance” to improve ties and achieve peace. His government is also extremely keen to see the games go off successfully.
The dates for this year’s exercises have not been announced, but the Key Resolve computer-simulated command post exercise was held March 8-23 last year, while the Foal Eagle field training exercises began March 1 and continued through the end of April.
About 17,000 American and more than 300,000 South Korean troops participated in the 2017 exercises, which included drills to pre-emptively “detect, defend, disrupt and destroy” North Korean nuclear and missile facilities.
North Korea views the exercises as preparation for an invasion.
China has proposed that the United States and South Korea agree to freeze their annual military exercises in return for a North Korea pledge to freeze its nuclear and missile testing program. That would imply that Washington effectively cancel this year’s exercises entirely, since they would be hard to reschedule at short notice, even if the North Koreans reneged on their side of the deal. The Trump administration has rejected the idea.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis insisted that the delay was a practical necessity to accommodate the Olympics, not a political gesture.
“For us, it’s a practical matter,” Mattis told journalists in an impromptu encounter at the Pentagon, citing the wide array of logistics and transportation support required to conduct the Olympics, some of which would otherwise be tied up with military exercises.
Asked last week at the Pentagon about whether there would be a “pause” in Foal Eagle, Mattis first said there would not be, then downplayed the significance if it happened. Any decision would be announced by the U.S. and South Korean governments, he said at the time.
OLIVE BRANCH FROM KIM?
For the first time in months, high-level diplomatic action between North and South is taking place. North Korean leader Kim Jong Un recently reopened a key cross-border communication channel with South Korea that had been dormant since February 2016, and the neighbors are exploring the possibility of a formal dialogue.
Asked whether delaying the military maneuvers was a quid pro quo in response to Kim’s reopening of cross-border communications, Mattis said, “No. Those talks are clearly the result of the amount of international pressure [on North Korea], and they are a way for North Korea to start talking while keeping it contained to a benign issue.”
Later, he said, “In terms of whether it’s a one-off [gesture] from him or a real olive branch, I don’t know.” He said there can be little doubt that international pressure, including sanctions ordered by the U.N. Security Council, is having some effect on Kim’s calculations.
North Korea also has expressed interest in sending a delegation to participate in the Olympics.
Joe Cirincione, president of the Ploughshares Fund, which advocates for nuclear disarmament, wrote in a tweet that the delay in the military drills is a welcome move to lessen hostilities after Trump’s latest tweets about the size of his nuclear “button.” Cirincione wrote: “Korean leaders have convinced him to take a step back from the brink.”
In a tweet early Thursday, Trump claimed his tough stance on nuclear weapons on the Korean Peninsula is helping push North Korea and South Korea to talk, although that assertion is in conflict with some of Trump’s own statements. Last year, he ridiculed Secretary of State Rex Tillerson for talking about negotiations with the North.
Trump tweeted Thursday, “Does anybody really believe that talks and dialogue would be going on between North and South Korea right now if I wasn’t firm, strong and willing to commit our total ‘might’ against the North.”
Earlier this week, Trump seemed open to the possibility of an inter-Korean dialogue after Kim made a rare overture toward South Korea in a New Year’s address. But Trump’s ambassador to the United Nations insisted that talks won’t be meaningful unless the North is getting rid of its nuclear weapons.
The overture about talks came after Trump and Kim traded more bellicose claims about their nuclear weapons.
In his New Year’s address, Kim repeated nuclear threats against the U.S. Kim said he has a “nuclear button” on his office desk and warned that “the whole territory of the U.S. is within the range of our nuclear strike.”
Trump mocked that assertion Tuesday evening, tweeting: “Will someone from his depleted and food starved regime please inform him that I too have a Nuclear Button, but it is a much bigger & more powerful one than his, and my Button works!”