Japan rejects let-up

Joint military exercises vital to balance of power, Tokyo says

US MILITARY drills with South Korea and Washington’s troop presence in South Korea are “vital” for regional security, Japan said yesterday, raising concerns after US President Donald Trump said the drills would be halted.

“The drills and the US military stationed in South Korea play a vital role in east Asia’s security,” Japan’s defence minister Itsunori Onodera said when asked about Mr Trump’s surprise announcement. “I hope to share this recognition between Japan and the US, or among Japan, US and South Korea.”

Mr Trump stunned observers on Tuesday after meeting North Korea’s leader by saying the regular joint US-South Korea military exercises would be halted as Washington fleshes out a deal with Pyongyang.

“We will be stopping the war games, which will save us a tremendous amount of money, unless and until we see the future negotiation is not going along like it should,” Mr Trump said. “Plus, I think it’s very provocative,” he added, saying further that “at some point” he wanted to withdraw US troops from the South, without suggesting a timeline.

Security experts warn that a reduction in US military presence in east Asia would alter the balance of power in the region as China engages in a rapid military build-up.

Mr Onodera said Japan’s policy remained unchanged after the Trump-Kim summit. “There is no change in our policy of putting pressure” on North Korea, he said, adding that Japan wanted concrete action from the North over its nuclear and missile ambitions, as well as on the issue of Japanese abducted by Pyongyang decades ago. The news comes as media coverage in North Korea shows the importance of the halted exercises.

The ruling workers’ party newspaper dubbed the summit the start of a new relationship between their countries and that Mr Trump had agreed to Kim Jong-un’s demands.