Joint military exercises will test deal for talks between Trump, Kim

The annual U.S.-South Korea military exercises that usually anger North Korea will start in two weeks, setting up the first test in the historic agreement for talks between Kim Jong Un and President Trump.

The joint drills, which were postponed during the Winter Olympics in South Korea, are scheduled to begin April 1, the Pentagon said Tuesday.

The announcement comes after Trump and Kim agreed to discuss denuclearization on the Korean Peninsula in the first face-to-face talks between a North Korean leader and a U.S. president. A specific date and location for the meeting, set for sometime in the next couple of months, has not been finalized.

As part of the deal, North Korea agreed to suspend missiles and nuclear weapons tests and to not object publicly to the joint drills, the White House said.

The exercises have historically angered North Korea, which has called them a prelude to a U.S.-led invasion. In light of the agreement for talks, the country said it recognized the need for them as part of South Korea’s defense.

“They always approach these exercises as start of war,” said David Albright, president of the Institute for Science and International Security. “It would be wise for them to say nothing, but it is hard for them. It serves propaganda purposes by making them feel there is an enemy at the door.”

The U.S. military said the exercises would be similar in size and scope to previous ones, which have involved thousands of U.S. and South Korean troops. South Korea has notified the North about “the schedule as well as the defensive nature of the annual exercises,” the Pentagon said.