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Blue House National Security Office Director Chung Eui-yong (right), National Intelligence Service (NIS) Director Suh Hoon (center) and South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo (left) enter the Blue House’s Yeomin House I for a general meeting of the implementation committee for the inter-Korean summit on June 15. (Blue House photo pool)
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August-scheduled Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercise to be first for suspension
On June 15, the Blue House announced that it would soon be announcing whether to suspend South Korea-US joint military exercises, including Ulchi-Freedom Guardian (UFG). The announcement of a halt to the exercises for the duration of dialogue between South and North Korea and between North Korea and the US is expected to be imminent. “Nothing has been decided yet about adjusting the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises [scheduled for August], but after close deliberation with the US, I think we will be able to announce our position before long,” said a senior official from the Blue House in a meeting with reporters on June 15. “President Moon Jae-in has expressed his position regarding joint military exercises and ordered the National Security Council to be in close consultation with the US based on that position. Deliberations with the US have already begun in line with those instructions,” the official said. South Korea and the US are reportedly in agreement about suspending their joint military exercises. “As long as North Korea is taking sincere steps toward denuclearization and there is ongoing good-faith dialogue between South and North Korea and between North Korea and the US that is aimed at resolving hostile relations, we think it is necessary to seriously reconsider actions that put military pressure on the North. In that sense, the US is also quite sympathetic to the South Korean government’s position, and that’s the foundation for deliberations that are taking place between our two governments,” the official said. South Korea and the US appear to have been coordinating their actions in regard to suspending the exercises since the North Korea-US summit in Singapore on June 12 with the goal of supporting North Korea and the US’s agreement to denuclearize the Korean Peninsula and to provide the North with a security guarantee. Shortly after the North Korea-US summit on June 12, Trump said he would suspend South Korea-US joint military exercises while good-faith dialogue with North Korea continued, while President Moon said during a meeting of the National Security Council on June 14 that “a flexible attitude is needed in regard to military pressure on North Korea according to the spirit of mutual confidence-building if sincere dialogue continues between South and North Korea and between North Korea and the US.” Next, South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and US Secretary of Defense James Mattis discussed this issue during a telephone call on the evening of June 14. During a confirmation hearing before the US Senate Foreign Relations Committee on June 14, Harry Harris, the nominee for US Ambassador to South Korea, expressed his support for Trump’s plan to halt the joint military exercises. Inclusion of Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises dependent on speed of summit follow-up measures In effect, the exercise that seems likely to be “conditionally” suspended is Ulchi-Freedom Guardian. Whether the Key Resolve and Foal Eagle exercises, which are held every year in April and May, will be included as well and will probably depend on the speed of the implementation of the follow-up measures to the North Korea-US summit. If South Korea and the US decide to suspend the exercises, therefore, it may represent North Korea and the US attempting to take gradual and simultaneous measures in order to make progress on their agreement, which still consists of a vague document and oral promises that have not taken documentary form, some analysts believe. The two sides may be building trust as North Korea shuts down a missile-engine testing facility at Dongchang Village, Cholsan County, North Pyongan Province, where it has reportedly tested ICBM engines, in exchange for South Korea and the US suspending their joint military exercises, which the North has regarded as a primary military threat. “South Korea and the US are continuing deliberations over the question of suspending exercises. The Ulchi-Freedom Guardian exercises alone encompass several stages and aspects, so there are many questions to decide, such as whether all of them will be suspended or only the parts that the North considers as a military threat,” a senior official at the Blue House said during a telephone call with The Hankyoreh. At the same time, key figures handling foreign policy and security for South Korea and the US took pains to keep the suspension of joint military exercises from escalating into a debate about US troops stationed in South Korea or about cracks forming in the South Korea-US alliance. USFK will not be withdrawn “During the press conference, Trump himself made clear that US troops would not be withdrawn. US Forces Korea [USFK] is an issue for the South Korea-US alliance and therefore cannot be a subject for negotiations between North Korea and the US,” said a senior official at the Blue House. “We have had no deliberations with the US about US Forces Korea, and our previous position remains unchanged.” “Our alliance commitments to South Korea remain and are ironclad,” Harris said. “Decisions that we make are alliance decisions, decisions are made with our South Korean ally and not made unilaterally.” By Seong Yeon-cheol, Kim Bo-hyeop, Hwang Joon-bum and Noh Ji-won, staff reporters Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
