Blue House vows to serve as ‘pacemaker’ for U.S. with North as Trump calls for reduced joint drills
South Korea's top office was responding to U.S. President Donald Trump’s post about an order that military exercises with Seoul be scaled back while hailing his “good relationship” with Kim Jong-un.
U.S. Forces Korea personnel walk in front of military vehicles at Camp Humphreys in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi, as the Ulchi Freedom Shield, the annual key South Korea-U.S joint exercise, began on Aug. 17 for a 10-day run.YONHAP
The Blue House said Monday it will make necessary diplomatic efforts as a “pacemaker” in coordination with Washington on North Korea after U.S. President Donald Trump ordered South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises to be "substantially reduced” while flaunting his “good relationship” with the North's leader, Kim Jong-un.
“Our government is paying close attention to President Trump’s social media message today and hopes that the friendly relationship between the North Korean and U.S. leaders will lead to meaningful dialogue between the two countries, thereby initiating discussions to advance peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula,” a Blue House official said in a statement. “To this end, we will exert necessary diplomatic efforts as a pacemaker under close South Korea-U.S. cooperation.”
In a social media post on Sunday, Trump announced he had ordered the Pentagon to scale down joint military drills with South Korea just hours before Seoul and Washington were set to begin their annual large-scale summertime combined military exercise, the Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS), for a 10-day run.
”Based on my very good relationship with Kim Jong-un, of North Korea, I am not happy with the fact that the United States has, long ago, agreed to participate in Joint Military Exercises with South Korea,” Trump wrote on Truth Social on Sunday. “These exercises are not only costly, with much of these costs paid for by the United States of America [as usual!], but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile, to a Country that, as long as Donald J. Trump has been President, has been unthreatening and respectful.”
This marked the first time since his second term began that Trump ordered a scaling back of Seoul-Washington military drills. Pyongyang has often denounced large-scale Seoul-Washington military drills, such as the UFS, as war rehearsals.
During his first term, Trump called for a suspension or drawdown of such military exercises, describing them as provocative and expensive after his first summit with Kim in Singapore on June 12, 2018. This led to a period of canceled or reduced joint military exercises amid ongoing North-U.S. denuclearization negotiations in 2018 and 2019, during which the two leaders met three times.
In Sunday’s post, Trump wrote that “based on the fact that it is too late to cancel,” he instructed U.S. Secretary of Defense Pete Hegseth “to substantially reduce” the joint military exercises.
He added that in a “somewhat unrelated” matter, he had recently asked South Korean President Lee Jae Myung “if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’”
“South Korea and the United States have closely coordinated on maintaining a firm combined defense posture and on joint exercises and training, and will continue to cooperate on specific details regarding these matters,” the Blue House official said regarding the joint drills.
The official added that Seoul has “actively participated in international discussions regarding a cease-fire in Iran and the restoration of freedom of passage in the Strait of Hormuz, and is currently discussing practical and military contribution measures with the U.S. side, taking into account various factors such as readiness on the Korean Peninsula and domestic legal procedures.”
This comes as the United States and Iran looked unlikely to reach a deal to end their war after a 60-day deadline for peace talks was set to close on Monday.
U.S. President Donald Trump, right, speaks with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un during their first summit on Sentosa Island in Singapore, on June 12, 2018.AP/YONHAP
The Blue House position is interpreted as a response to President Lee Jae Myung’s proposal for multilateral dialogue among involved parties on the Korean Peninsula.
“We will embark on a journey to end war and transform the Korean Peninsula’s unstable armistice into a peace regime,” President Lee said in his Liberation Day address on Saturday, calling to “initiate dialogue among directly concerned parties in order to conclude this long war” and “devise effective ways to curb advances in the North’s nuclear capabilities.”
On Friday, North Korea’s foreign ministry issued a statement denouncing the upcoming South-U.S. military exercise, calling it a part of aims to “complete preparations for the substantial military confrontation" with Pyongyang.
North Korea has often demanded the suspension of the joint exercises as a precondition for dialogue with the United States, giving rise to speculation that Washington may be setting the conditions for a Trump-Kim summit within the year.
President Lee Jae Myung delivers an address at a ceremony marking the 81st anniversary of Liberation Day at the Sejong Center for the Performing Arts in central Seoul on Aug. 15.JOINT PRESS CORPS
Experts view Trump’s remarks as a “carrot” strategy aimed at luring Kim back to dialogue, notably with the characterization of North Korea as a country that has been “unthreatening and respectful,” possibly hinting at Pyongyang refraining from provocations directly targeting the U.S. mainland, such as the launch of intercontinental ballistic missile test launches, since the start of Trump’s second term.
Some ruling Democratic Party lawmakers and diplomatic sources speculate that discussions about the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula could resume during Chinese President Xi Jinping’s visit to the United States during the United Nations General Assembly in September. Some analysts also point out that Trump may sound out a meeting with Kim during a potential Asia tour later this year, which includes attending the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, in November.
Ahead of the APEC summit in South Korea’s Gyeongju in October of last year, Trump mentioned several times he’d be interested in talks with Kim. President Lee, in turn, has supported the easing of inter-Korean tensions and pledged multiple times to support talks between North Korea and the United States in a "pacemaker” role to Trump's "peacemaker."
The U.S. president has often demanded that allies pay more for defense, including the stationing of U.S. troops in South Korea, and some analysts point out that Washington may also attempt to gain leverage in tariff negotiations regarding delayed investment projects in the United States.
South Korean military officials, in turn, indicated on Monday that the UFS joint exercise is currently being conducted normally and that there were no specific requests from the U.S. side regarding adjustments to the scale of combined drills thus far.
