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US President Donald Trump shakes hands with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on the North Korean side of the Military Demarcation Line (MDL) in Panmunjom on June 30. (Kim Jung-hyo, staff photographer)
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Pentagon hints joint military exercises for fall to proceed as planned
After North Korea announced that military exercises between South Korea and the US scheduled for next month could have an impact on North Korea-US working-level negotiations, the US government is also signaling that it won’t rush into dialogue with the North. Amid the back-and-forth between Washington and Pyongyang, there’s a growing likelihood of a delay in the working-level talks. Shortly after US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un held a surprise meeting in Panmunjom on June 30, officials had said the talks would be held in two or three weeks. “I’m in absolutely no hurry, but at some point, I think we can probably do something that would be very good for them [North Korea] and very good [. . .] for the world,” Trump said during a cabinet meeting held at the White House on July 16. Trump made these remarks while emphasizing that his meeting with Kim, which had followed a spur-of-the-moment suggestion on Twitter, was the kind of “great communication” and “tremendous progress” that hadn’t been seen under previous administrations. “Time is not of the essence, but I think good things will ultimately happen,” Trump said. During a press briefing, US State Department Spokesperson Morgan Ortagus said that the US “will look forward [. . .] to resuming those negotiations” with North Korea while noting that the US negotiating team would be given “time and space.” “We hope Steve Biegun and his team will quietly continue to make progress behind the scenes,” Ortagus said. This echoed remarks made by US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo in an interview the previous day. “I hope the North Koreans will come to the table with ideas that they didn’t have the first time. We hope we can we be a little more creative too,” Pompeo had said. Ortagus also raised some eyebrows with a comment intended to muzzle hardliners inside both North Korea and the US. “We would hope that no one would try to block — in their government or our own government — the ability for President Trump and Chairman Kim to [. . .] make progress on the commitments that they made to each other,” she said. In related news, the US Department of Defense stated that it would hold its command post exercise with South Korea in August, as currently planned. This followed a similar statement by the South Korean Ministry of National Defense. Pentagon Spokesperson David Eastburn told the Hankyoreh that the South Korean and American militaries are gearing up to carry out the fall program of joint military exercises. By Hwang Joon-bum, Washington correspondent Please direct comments or questions to [english@hani.co.kr]
