SEOUL, South Korea (AP) — North Korea said Wednesday that a U.S. decision to scale back military exercises with South Korea does not change what it see as their provocative nature, dampening hopes for a resumption of diplomacy between North Korean leader Kim Jong Un and U.S. President Donald Trump.
The powerful sister of North Korean leader Kim Jong Un made the comments Wednesday night in her country’s first reaction to Trump’s moves to drastically
cut back the annual U.S.-South Korean military drills.
“We think it’s not worth making comments on that and we have no any interest in it,” Kim Yo Jong said in a statement carried by state media. “The provocative, aggressive nature of the drills won’t change even though their duration and size were reduced.”
Her statement came hours after the South Korean and U.S. militaries confirmed Wednesday they were significantly scaling back major joint drills, days after Trump ordered the reduction in an apparent bid to reengage with Kim Jong Un.
Trump ordered the Pentagon to “substantially reduce” the allies’ summertime Ulchi Freedom Shield exercises, just before they began Monday for an 11-day run. Trump cited what he said was a good relationship with Kim and South Korea’s refusal to support him over Iran.
South Korean officials said Trump's surprise announcement came without prior notice, baffling many people in the Asian country and raising concerns about joint defense readiness.
South Korea’s military said Wednesday the allies agreed to adjust the duration and scale of the exercises at the request of the U.S. It said the ongoing drills would end Friday, not Aug. 27 as initially planned. It added the allies also agreed to downsize some joint field training exercises.
The Pentagon said that it was “continuing training that enhances tactical capability” but certain events have been canceled or converted to simulations. “These adjustments preserve essential readiness and training objectives. There will be no degradation to U.S. training objectives,” a Pentagon statement said.
Many experts say Trump’s move threatens to hurt the combined U.S.-South Korean defense posture and eventually weaken their decades-long alliance.
A reduction or suspension of military drills matters because military commanders change periodically. A one-year suspension of drills would mean commanders unfamiliar with the procedures of the drills would be taking part when they resume, according to Yang Uk, an analyst at Seoul’s Asan Institute for Policy Studies.
Ulchi Freedom Shield is largely a computer-simulated command post exercise meant to hone the allies’ ability to deal with potential North Korean aggression. The two countries usually hold a set of field training exercises during the command post exercise period.
The drills and a similar springtime exercise are a central pillar of the U.S.-South Korea alliance, which dates to the 1950-53 Korean War. But it’s also a long-running source of tensions with North Korea, which has denounced the exercises as a rehearsal for an invasion and responded with provocative missile tests. Days before this month's drills began, North Korea launched two ballistic missiles into the sea.
This month's drills were initially supposed to be held in two phases in simulation of North Korean attacks — the first part until this Friday on defensive operations and the second part until Aug. 27 on counteroffensive operations. North Korea is extremely sensitive to counteroffensive drills, according to South Korean media.
Earlier Wednesday, North Korea's state news agency, KCNA, published a commentary slamming the U.S.-South Korean military drills as “frantic” and “extremely dangerous” and vowing to completely frustrate its rivals’ hostilities.
“The dangerous escalation of the war drills staged by the U.S. and its vassal forces is posing a more serious threat to the security” of North Korea, the commentary said. “Our exercise of right to self-defense will continue to completely neutralize the enemies’ military threat.”
Many experts said Kim, now emboldened by his advancing nuclear program and expanding military cooperation with Russia, won't likely embrace Trump's overture and return to talks anytime soon unless he's promised bigger concessions. In response to Trump's previous outreach, Kim suggested last year that he can only return to talks if the U.S. drops its demand for North Korean denuclearization as a precondition for diplomacy.
Trump and Kim met three times from 2018-2019 but their high-stakes diplomacy eventually fell apart over wrangling over a North Korean demand for extensive sanctions relief in return for limited denuclearization steps.
On Monday, the office of South Korean President Lee Jae Myung expressed hope that a “friendly relationship” between Trump and Kim would lead to “meaningful dialogue” to promote peace on the Korean Peninsula. Lee is a liberal who wants better ties with North Korea.
But his office's statement drew a strong backlash from conservatives, who alleged Lee's government was prioritizing the resumption of Kim-Trump diplomacy over security concerns caused by Trump's move.
In his social media post, Trump said the drills are not only costly but “send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile” to North Korea, which he said “has been unthreatening and respectful” during his time in the White House. Trump said he asked Lee if South Korea would join the U.S. in the “denuclearization” of Iran, “and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
At separate parliamentary hearings Wednesday, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun and Defense Minister Ahn Gyu-back said neither South Korean nor U.S. officials were informed of Trump's move before his social media post.
Cho said the alliance remains strong, while Ahn said South Korean and U.S. defense officials were maintaining close consultations.
Some experts say Trump's cut of the drills was more likely designed to apply pressure on South Korea to give him substantial support over the Iran war than to reach out to North Korea.
“Trump's message is that if you don’t cooperate with us on Iran, we’re not cooperating with you” on the drills either, said Yang, the analyst. “It's like he's asking South Korea to show it's helping him over Iran” by taking steps like sending warships or reinforcing missile defenses in some areas.
South Korean officials said South Korea and the U.S. are closely discussing practical and military contributions that South Korea can make to help restore freedom of navigation in the Strait of Hormuz.
It wasn't the first time that the U.S. and South Korea have scaled back or canceled their drills.
In 2018, Trump abruptly announced the cancellation of a major war game with South Korea, after his first summit with Kim. Announcing the decision, Trump said suspending the “provocative” war games would “save us a tremendous amount of money.”
The U.S. and South Korea have since canceled or reduced other joint drills to support diplomacy with North Korea and cope with the COVID-19 pandemic. Experts say reducing those drills has undermined the combined South Korea-U.S. readiness.
