NK raising voices against joint drills ahead of summit

Foreign Minister Kang Kyung-wha, left, and Defense Minister Song Young-moo talk to each other while walking toward a Cheong Wa Dae room, Tuesday, to join in a Cabinet meeting chaired by President Moon Jae-in. / Yonhap

By Lee Min-hyung

Joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States are likely to become a key topic at the denuclearization talks between the U.S. and North Korea.

The Rodong Sinmun, the North's mouthpiece newspaper, published an op-ed article claiming the drills as a major source of security concern in Northeast Asia.

“It is an international practice for two negotiating sides to refrain from any military activities,” the article said.

“When the U.S. deploys strategic nuclear weapons during the joint military exercises with South Korea, all the ongoing dialogue momentum will return to the original state.”

Seoul-Washington military exercises have for years drawn a strong backlash from North Korea. But as the country has rarely shown any peace gestures to Seoul and Washington until recently, no negotiations have been possible over the drills.

With the first-ever summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un approaching, the North is raising its voice against the drills.

In particular, Pyongyang has in recent months reacted to a series of joint drills by Seoul and Washington. The regime claimed Tuesday that they were harming the ongoing dialogue on the Korean Peninsula, saying they may take the escalating peace momentum back to square one.

The regime last week threatened to cancel a planned summit between Trump and Kim, expressing anger over the Max Thunder joint air force exercises.

As the drills ended their two-week run last week, the regime ramped up criticism of the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises between Seoul and Washington, annually held sometime around August.

“South Korea is making a fuss that it does not have plans to downsize UFG drills in August,” the propaganda newspaper said. It said the exercises are the root cause of breaking up peace and stability on the peninsula, urging their suspension in line with the ongoing dialogue momentum.

But South Korea and the U.S. said they do not have any plans to scale down or cancel any scheduled exercises.

Ministry of National Defense spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said Tuesday: “Seoul and Washington have yet to discuss any detailed plans over whether to scale down upcoming joint military drills.” But she said Seoul and Washington will proceed with them as planned.