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CEO & Publisher: Oh Young-jinDigital News Email: webmaster@koreatimes.co.krTel: 02-724-2114Online newspaper registration No: 서울,아52844Date of registration: 2020.02.05Masthead: The Korea TimesCopyright © koreatimes.co.kr. All rights reserved.

Will US halt other joint drills?

By Lee Min-hyungWith 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)

Jun 20, 2018
Will US halt other joint drills?

One strategic bomber flight costs billions of won

By Lee Min-hyungB-1B bomberIt costs billions of won for three U.S. strategic bombers to fly from Guam to South Korea, a U.S. television broadcaster reported last week. The combined cost for the three bombers ― B-1B, B-2A and B-52H bombers ― to complete their 13-hour mission exceeds 3.87 billion won ($3.5 million), CBS reported, citing data from the U.S. Air Force.The U.S. has for years deployed such aircraft to South Korea when conducting military exercises aimed at enhancing defense readiness against potential threats from North Korea.The report came a day after the landmark June 12 summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore.After holding denuclearization talks with Kim, Trump expressed his willingness to suspend joint military exercises with South Korea, as he claimed the latter does not pay enough for their regular combined drills.“The war games are very expensive and we (the U.S.) pay for a big majority of them,” Trump said in a press conference after the summit last week. “It is a long time for these bi

Jun 20, 2018
One strategic bomber flight costs billions of won

S. Korea, US suspend annual military drills

N. Korea expected to respond reciprocally to ease tensionBy Lee Min-hyungSouth Korea and the United States announced the suspension of a joint military exercise slated for August, Tuesday.North Korea is also expected to take action to ease tensions in line with its pledge to give up its nuclear weaponsAccording to the Ministry of National Defense, Seoul and Washington agreed to suspend the annual Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise, while also reviewing additional measures to ease military tension.“We have decided to suspend all the scheduled military activities surrounding the UFG exercise in August,” the defense ministry said in a statement Tuesday morning. “But nothing has been decided on suspending other joint exercises.”Ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo also said South Korea and the U.S. will review suspending exercises as long as the North continues its ongoing dialogue with Seoul and Washington.The suspension of the joint exercise comes after U.S. President Donald Trump hinted at the possibility following a landmark summit with North Korean leader Ki

Jun 19, 2018
S. Korea, US suspend annual military drills

South Korea, US suspend Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise

ReutersSouth Korea and the United States have decided to suspend the Ulchi Freedom Guardian (UFG) exercise slated for August, Seoul's defense ministry said Tuesday, amid dialogue efforts to denuclearize North Korea.Shortly after his Singapore summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un last Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump unveiled his plan to stop "provocative, inappropriate and expensive" war games with the South, which Pyongyang has decried as an invasion rehearsal."Following close cooperation, South Korea and the U.S. decided to suspend all planning activities for the UFG, the defensive exercise slated for August," the ministry said in a text message sent to reporters."The South and the U.S. plan to continue consultations over additional measures," it added.The ministry also said that there is no decision yet regarding other allied training exercises.The White House said that the combined exercises are expected to be "on pause" should the North deliver on its denuclearization commitment."Those conversations are ongoing at this point. As long as North Korea continues to act in

Jun 19, 2018
South Korea, US suspend Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercise

Navy stages defense drills at Dokdo Island

Navy's Underwater Demolition Team (UDT) agents are being released from an UH-60 helicopter over Dokdo, South Korea's eaternmost islets, in this 2013 file photo. / Korea Times fileBy Lee Min-hyungThe Navy began a two-day regular exercise Monday to defend the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo, deploying six warships and seven aircraft. The biannual drill is aimed at defending Dokdo and its surrounding area as part of Seoul's show of its strong willingness to protect the territory from other countries, according to the Navy. For the regular exercise, the Navy has teamed up with the Marines Corp and the Korea Coast Guard.The mobilized weapons include a 3,200-ton Yangmanchun destroyer, P-3C maritime patrol aircraft and F-15K fighter aircraft.“The exercise has been conducted on a regular basis each year, and will be similar in scale to the previous one (conducted in December last year),” the Navy said.Korea has staged the drill near the islets twice a year since 1986. The Navy has since focused on simulating outside forces' possible invasion scenarios of the islets and comin

Jun 18, 2018
Navy stages defense drills at Dokdo Island

US on track to reduce troops in S. Korea

United Nations soldiers participating in the 1950-53 Korean War pose for this file photo. / Korea Times fileBy Lee Min-hyungA U.S. Air Force F-16 fighter jet takes off from Osan Air Base in Pyeongtaek, Gyeonggi Province, during the joint Max Thunder air exercise with South Korea, May 16. / YonhapThere is a growing possibility for the United States to downsize its troops in South Korea, with U.S. President Donald Trump expressing his firm determination toward the move amid a peace overture initiated by North Korean leader Kim Jong-un's pledge for denuclearization.The U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) has served as a major war deterrent since the 1950-53 Korean War. With Seoul and Pyongyang having since failed to sign a peace treaty, both sides remain in a technical state of war.After deploying the USFK, the U.S. has for decades reduced the number of the troops here for political and economic reasons. Washington has maintained 28,500 USFK troops in South Korea since April 2008 when then-South Korean President Lee Myung-bak and then-U.S. President George Bush agreed to maintain the troop size.Bu

Jun 18, 2018
US on track to reduce troops in S. Korea

South Korean military kicks off Dokdo defense drill

South Korea's Navy said Monday it will soon kick off a regular exercise on defending the nation's easternmost islets of Dokdo amid Japan's continued territorial claim.The two-day training is to start in the afternoon, involving the 3,200-ton Yangmanchun destroyer and five other warships as well as seven aircraft including P-3C maritime surveillance planes, UH-60 Blackhawk choppers, the Air Force's F-15K fighter jets.A unit of marines will also be mobilized for a landing exercise.The military first staged such a Dokdo defense practice in 1986. Since 2003, it has conducted the drills twice a year in a show of Seoul's effective control of the rocky islets, which are inhabited by just a small Coast Guard detachment, and improve capacity to defend the territory.Japan's foreign ministry delivered its routine protest message to South Korea through a diplomatic channel, broadcast NHK reported.Last month, it again laid claim to the sovereignty over Dokdo in the East Sea in a yearly foreign policy document, known as the Diplomatic Bluebook. (Yonhap)

Jun 18, 2018
South Korean military kicks off Dokdo defense drill

Professor calls for reinvestigation of Cheonan sinking

By Kim RahnSunken frigate Cheonan is being lifted in the seas near Baengnyeong Island in the West Sea in this 2010 photo. / Korea Times fileA professor has claimed Seoul should apologize to Pyongyang if a new investigation finds North Korea was not responsible for the sinking of the South Korean frigate Cheonan in 2010. An investigation jointly conducted by experts from five countries at the time concluded a North Korean torpedo sank the ship. The professor called this into question in a contribution to a monthly magazine published by the National Unification Advisory Council, a presidential consultative body on the unification of the Korean Peninsula. In the contribution, political science professor Yoon Tae-ryong of Konkuk University said the two Koreas need to put themselves in each other's shoes to keep the reconciliatory mood alive. “At an appropriate time, we need to reinvestigate the Cheonan incident and find the truth, and if it is found the South falsely accused the North of the incident, it should make an official apology to the North,” Yoon said. “That wi

Jun 17, 2018
Professor calls for reinvestigation of Cheonan sinking

South Korea, US expected to announce suspension of joint military drills this week

U.S. Army and South Korean soldiers take positions during the annual Foal Eagle joint military exercise at the Rodriquez Multi-Purpose Range Complex in Pocheon, Gyeonggi Province, in March 2015. APSouth Korea and the United States are expected to announce their decision to suspend large-scale combined military exercises this week amid dialogue with North Korea, a government source here said Sunday.In the announcement, the allies are likely to include a "snapback" clause, the source said, hinting that the exercises would resume should the communist regime fail to deliver on its denuclearization commitment.After his historic summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in Singapore on Tuesday, U.S. President Donald Trump said that he will stop "provocative, inappropriate and expensive" exercises with the South, which Pyongyang has decried as an invasion rehearsal."The South Korean and U.S. military authorities have been having close consultations over the combined exercises that U.S. President Donald Trump has said he will stop," a source said on condition of anonymity."This week, the S

Jun 17, 2018
South Korea, US expected to announce suspension of joint military drills this week

USFK reduction could be US next step

By Lee Min-hyungWith South Korea and the United States apparently on track to suspend their joint military exercises, a string of bilateral military steps is expected to ensue in exchange for North Korea's sincere steps for denuclearization.Seoul and Washington are in talks to suspend their annual military drills after U.S. President Donald Trump's historic meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un on Tuesday. Trump is in a position to make the concession in return for the regime's complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearization (CVID).But the two allied countries still have more military steps to be taken under the precondition that Pyongyang continues to take appropriate steps for peace and denuclearization.The possible scenarios include a reduction of the number of U.S. troops here. U.S. President Donald Trump expressed his strong willingness to withdraw the U.S. Forces Korea (USFK) in a press conference after his summit with Kim.“I want to get our soldiers out, and I want to bring our soldiers back home,” Trump said after his summit with Kim in Singapore. &l

Jun 15, 2018
USFK reduction could be US next step
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