By Lee Min-hyung
With South Korea and the United States suspending a large-scale regular joint drill, attention is being drawn to whether they will take the same steps for other planned military exercises this year.
Seoul and Washington decided Tuesday to suspend the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises scheduled for August, as part of their response to North Korea's pledge for denuclearization.
Both sides have yet to confirm whether they will continue suspending other military exercises apparently due to the unpredictable nature of North Korea which may abruptly stop its ongoing peace gesture and return to the previous provocative military stance.
But the likelihood for the North to carry out the scenario remains slim at a time when its young leader Kim Jong-un held the first-ever Washington-Pyongyang summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12.
Once the North continues the peace momentum and takes concrete steps to scrap its nuclear and missile facilities, chances are that Seoul and Washington can suspend other joint exercises, such as the Vigilant ACE (Air Component Exercise) slated to begin sometime this December.
This is because Washington deploys state-of-the-art strategic weapons when staging the regular air exercises. Last year, the U.S. deployed 140 strategic bombers and jets ― including a B-1B bomber and F-35B stealth fighter, while South Korea joined the drills with 90 aircraft, such as the F-15K fighter jet.
The Vigilant ACE along with the Max Thunder is the largest-scale joint air exercises conducted on the Korean Peninsula.
This May, the North reacted fiercely against the Max Thunder joint air drill, urging Seoul and Washington to put a complete end to the exercise. In a show of its intense opposition to the drill, the regime canceled a scheduled peace dialogue with Seoul and threatened not to join the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
For other planned exercises, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense is in a position to keep a close watch on how the ongoing peace momentum develops.
"We have not made decisions for the suspension of other planned exercises, and will continue to hold discussions with the U.S. about taking additional measures," South Korea's defense ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in a media briefing Tuesday.
The ministry said decisions (about whether to suspend other drills) have not been made, as it depends on how sincerely North Korea comes to detailed terms with the South and the U.S. to fulfill its pledge for nuclear disarmament.
"As we have suspended the UFG exercises, we expect the North to take corresponding steps (to fulfill its promise)," she said.
With South Korea and the United States suspending a large-scale regular joint drill, attention is being drawn to whether they will take the same steps for other planned military exercises this year.
Seoul and Washington decided Tuesday to suspend the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercises scheduled for August, as part of their response to North Korea's pledge for denuclearization.
Both sides have yet to confirm whether they will continue suspending other military exercises apparently due to the unpredictable nature of North Korea which may abruptly stop its ongoing peace gesture and return to the previous provocative military stance.
But the likelihood for the North to carry out the scenario remains slim at a time when its young leader Kim Jong-un held the first-ever Washington-Pyongyang summit with U.S. President Donald Trump on June 12.
Once the North continues the peace momentum and takes concrete steps to scrap its nuclear and missile facilities, chances are that Seoul and Washington can suspend other joint exercises, such as the Vigilant ACE (Air Component Exercise) slated to begin sometime this December.
This is because Washington deploys state-of-the-art strategic weapons when staging the regular air exercises. Last year, the U.S. deployed 140 strategic bombers and jets ― including a B-1B bomber and F-35B stealth fighter, while South Korea joined the drills with 90 aircraft, such as the F-15K fighter jet.
The Vigilant ACE along with the Max Thunder is the largest-scale joint air exercises conducted on the Korean Peninsula.
This May, the North reacted fiercely against the Max Thunder joint air drill, urging Seoul and Washington to put a complete end to the exercise. In a show of its intense opposition to the drill, the regime canceled a scheduled peace dialogue with Seoul and threatened not to join the Trump-Kim summit in Singapore.
For other planned exercises, South Korea's Ministry of National Defense is in a position to keep a close watch on how the ongoing peace momentum develops.
"We have not made decisions for the suspension of other planned exercises, and will continue to hold discussions with the U.S. about taking additional measures," South Korea's defense ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said in a media briefing Tuesday.
The ministry said decisions (about whether to suspend other drills) have not been made, as it depends on how sincerely North Korea comes to detailed terms with the South and the U.S. to fulfill its pledge for nuclear disarmament.
"As we have suspended the UFG exercises, we expect the North to take corresponding steps (to fulfill its promise)," she said.
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