Military authorities suspend Freedom Guardian joint exercise set for August

White House press secretary Sarah Sanders announces on June 18 that the South Korea-US joint military exercises originally scheduled for August will be suspended “as long the North Koreans continue to act in good faith.” (Yonhap News)

Defense ministry says other exercises up for review

The Freedom Guardian joint military exercises originally scheduled for August will not be held, South Korea and US military authorities announced on June 19.

The decision, which represents a working-level follow-up measure to US President Donald Trump’s promise to Pyongyang following a North Korea-US summit earlier this month, is expected to help hasten the North Korean denuclearization process and the establishment of a peace regime on the peninsula.

In a text message announcement to its** regular beat reporters that day, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense wrote, “After close coordination between South Korea and the US, the decision has been made to postpone all planning activities for the defensive Freedom Guardian military exercises, which we had planned to hold in August.”

The ministry also said it was “set to continue discussions with the US on additional measures,” adding that a “decision has not yet been made on other subsequent exercises.” The Pentagon released a similar statement the same day credited to spokesperson Dana White.

The Ministry of National Defense noted that joint South Korea-US military exercises have been suspended twice in the past, in 1990 and 1992. In 1990, the Ulchi Focus Lens exercise – the precursor of the Ulchi-Freedom Guardian – was skipped due to the holding of high-level inter-Korean talks and the US’s involvement in the Gulf War. In 1992, South Korea and the US suspended their Team Spirit exercise when North Korea agreed to allow nuclear inspections by the International Atomic Energy Agency (IAEA). The suspension of exercises is the third overall, and the first in the 26 years since 1992.

In the past, South Korea and the US have carried on with their joint exercises despite Pyongyang’s objections, characterizing them as “regular exercises for defensive purposes.” But with a push toward peace and dialogue rapidly gaining momentum on the peninsula after the June 12 North Korea-US summit, the military exercises appear to have disappeared for the moment. Discussing the reason for Freedom Guardian’s suspension in a June 19 press briefing, Ministry of National Defense spokesperson Choi Hyun-soo called it a “measure to contribute to continuing the peaceful climate in North Korea-US and inter-Korean dialogue.”

“We anticipate there will be corresponding action taken by the North Korean side,” she added.

The ministry did not explicitly mention whether the suspension would be a one-time move or an ongoing measure. The ambiguity was read by analysts as leaving some room for adjustments in terms of the conditions announced by White House press secretary Sarah Sanders regarding the exercise’s suspension, which she said would apply “as long as the North Koreans continue to act in good faith.” It also appeared to signal the intent to use the question of whether the exercises will be resumed as leverage for proactive denuclearization steps by the North.

In addition to the postponed Freedom Guardian drills, current large-scale South Korea-US military exercises include Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, which are held annually in February and March. Freedom Guardian and Key Resolve are scenario-based command post exercises, while Foal Eagle is a field training exercise involving actual troops and equipment. North Korea has voiced extreme displeasure with all three. As such, they are seen as likely to come under focus if the North Korea-US denuclearization talks proceed smoothly and an expansion of the suspension is discussed.

Helicopters, including the AH-64 Apache, are seen on June 19 at the Camp Humphreys garrison, known as the US military’s largest overseas base, near Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province. On the same day, South Korean and US military authorities announced the suspension of the Freedom Guardian joint exercise in light of peace talks and denuclearization negotiations between North Korea and the US. (Yonhap News)

All joint military exercises subject to review

North Korea has also reacted sensitively to exercises conducted by individual armed forces, including the joint South Korea-US air force drills Max Thunder and Vigilant Ace. Almost without exception, it has responded to the inclusion of F-22 stealth fighters and strategic bombers like the B-1B or B-52 in the exercises by issuing a statement denouncing the “rehearsal for nuclear war.”

Its response to the inclusion of US aircraft carriers and nuclear submarines in joint naval drills has been similarly vehement. The exercises are seen as likely to be conducted in a “low-key” manner going ahead – without the deployment of strategic US weaponry that might provoke the North.

“If you take into account not just the large exercises and training involving the entire Korean Peninsula but also the ones carried out by individual armed forces and at different echelons, joint South Korea-US exercises number in the hundreds,” a Ministry of National Defense senior official said.

“We’re planning to submit all of them to review as we figure out what to do,” the official added.

The White House’s announcement of his** plan to suspend joint South Korea-US military activities has prompted concerns on both sides that their military response posture vis-à-vis the North is being “neglected.” In a June 19 regular briefing, Choi Hyun-soo said the two sides “have not had the slightest setbacks in diligently preparing for the joint South Korea-US defense.” A Ministry of National Defense senior official said, “While I can’t state the specifics, each armed force is making preparations – mainly through the Joint Chiefs of Staff – to ensure there is no training vacuum.”

In the past, the Freedom Guardian exercise has been conducted jointly with Ulchi, a government-level drill to prepare for the possibility of war. In terms of the possibility the Ulchi exercise will also be halted with the Freedom Guardian suspension, the South Korean government maintained that “nothing has been decided yet.”

“We’re leaving it open,” a Blue House senior official said that day of the possibility of the Ulchi exercise also being suspended.

By Park Byong-su, senior staff writer

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