Seoul, Washington to hold joint military exercise in early April

Yonhap news agency cited a South Korean presidential security adviser as saying that the joint military drills would start in early April.

The exercises were originally planned for an earlier date; however, they were postponed until after the 2018 Winter Olympics and Paralympics in South Korea — which will end in mid-March — in an effort not to provoke North Korea, which decided to take part in the Games in the territory of its rival South.

The news agency quoted Moon Chung-in, the South Korean security adviser, as saying at a seminar in Washington that he was “aware the drills will begin in the first week of April.”

Moon expressed hope that dialog would begin between Pyongyang and Washington. He also said that in “talks between the United States and North Korea before the drills, there may be some kind of compromise.”

Earlier, South Korea had called on the North and the US to compromise and enter talks.

Military forces from South Korea and the United States usually hold the so-called Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises in March and April every year. The drills usually involve as many as 17,000 US troops and over 300,000 South Koreans.

South Korea’s Defense Minister Song Young-moon said earlier this month that he and his US counterpart, Jim Mattis, would make an announcement on the drill plans between the end of the Winter Paralympics on March 18 and the start of April.

Mattis had earlier claimed that the postponement of the drills until after the Games was due to logistical concerns.

Pyongyang’s rare participation in the Games has provided an opportunity for the two neighbors to resolve long-running hostilities. They have exchanged diplomatic and high-level visits, and there is hope that relations could improve effectively.

But the resumption of the US-South Korea drills — which have long been an irritant to the North — threatens to jeopardize that prospect.

Earlier this month, North Korea had warned that the US would be responsible for the potential ruining of the recent rapprochement between Pyongyang and Seoul if the drills resumed.

North Korea says the military exercises are rehearsals for an invasion. It accuses the US and its regional allies of seeking a military confrontation with Pyongyang.

The US has substantial military presence in the region, including in South Korea and Japan.

KD