South Korea, US to hold high-level defense talks in Washington

By Jung Da-min

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo. Korea Times file

Acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan. Korea Times file

Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo and acting U.S. Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan will meet in Washington, D.C., Monday (early Tuesday in KST), to discuss security on the Korean Peninsula.

It will be their first face-to-face talks since Shanahan took office, following their telephone conversation on March 2 when they agreed to meet soon.

During the meeting, Jeong and Shanahan will also evaluate the joint Dong Maeng exercise that ended on March 12. The exercise replaced a larger-scale Key Resolve command post exercise, which was canceled as a gesture toward ongoing peace efforts on the peninsula.

The U.S. and South Korea have suspended three major join exercises ― Key Resolve, Foal Eagle and Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) ― replacing them with Dong Maeng exercises and other training.

The transfer of wartime operational control (OPCON) back to South Korea is also on the agenda.

After his meeting with Shanahan, Jeong will also visit the Center for Strategic and International Studies (CSIS) to meet experts on Korean issues.

On Tuesday, Jeong will also meet U.S. lawmakers including Senator Cory Gardner, chairman of the Foreign Relations Subcommittee on East Asia, and Adam Smith, chairman of the House Armed Services Committee, to call for congressional support for the alliance.

Meanwhile, the inter-Korean Comprehensive Military Agreement (CMA) made last Sept. 19 has been stalled since the unfruitful Hanoi summit, where the U.S. and North Korea failed to bridge differences over the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization and Washington's sanctions relief.

North Korea has not responded to the South's request to send a taskforce to a planned joint project to excavate war remains in the border area, which was slated to begin April 1.

The defense ministry said it would independently initiate the excavation project at Arrowhead Ridge in Cheorwon, Gangwon Province, while still waiting for the North's response.