Unification minister says scaled-back drills could open door for dialogue

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young speaks during a briefing at the National Assembly Committee on Foreign Affairs and Unification, Wednesday. Yonhap

Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Wednesday he hoped scaled-back military drills between South Korea and the United States could open the door for dialogue between North Korea and Washington.

He made the remarks during a parliamentary committee meeting, as Seoul and Washington announced cutting short their annual summertime military exercise to Friday, concluding the 11-day drills a week earlier than scheduled.

Chung said he supported U.S. President Donald Trump's order to scale back the Ulchi Freedom Shield exercise, adding what Trump described as making things safer is "exactly the core" of the exercise reduction.

"The shared goal of the alliance is peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Chung told a meeting of the parliamentary committee on foreign and unification affairs.

In a Truth Social post on Sunday (U.S. time), Trump ordered the U.S. military to reduce the combined exercise, arguing that the drills send a "totally inappropriate and hostile" signal to North Korea.

When asked to respond to the view that he was prioritizing the interests of North Korea over America's longtime ally, South Korea, by scaling back the drills, Trump argued that he was making the security situation "much safer."

"I hope this leads to dialogue between the U.S. and North Korea, and further extends to improved inter-Korean ties," Chung said.

On the prospect of renewed dialogue between Washington and Pyongyang, the minister said the scaled-back military drills opened room for talks, noting that North Korea has long described the joint exercises as the core of what it calls Washington's hostile policy toward Pyongyang.

In February, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un said Pyongyang has no reason not to get along with the U.S. if Washington withdraws its hostile policy against the North.