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| Lawmakers from liberal parties hold a press conference at the National Assembly in Seoul, Thursday, calling for the suspension of a South Korea-U.S. combined military exercise, scheduled for August. Korea Times photo by Lee Han-ho |
Seoul wants low-key exercise to incentivize Pyongyang to return to talks
By Kang Seung-woo
South Korea and the United States are likely to scale down their annual summertime military exercise in what seems to be a move not to provoke North Korea.
Citing multiple government sources, the local daily Donga Ilbo reported, Monday, that Seoul and Washington had reached a broad consensus on carrying out the drill in the second week of August on a scale similar to one in March, which proceeded as a computer-simulated command post exercise (CPX) with no outdoor drills.
It also said the U.S. government seems to have accepted the South Korean administrations opinion that a large-scale military exercise could adversely affect possible future denuclearization negotiations between the U.S. and North Korea.
Should it be staged as reported, the allies will then not have held a large-scale field training exercise since 2018.
Whether and how to hold the summertime combined training has been seen as a yardstick on North Korea charting its course between staging a provocation and returning to dialogue.
In that respect, the Moon Jae-in administration and the ruling Democratic Party of Korea (DPK) have floated the idea of downsizing or even suspending the upcoming annual exercise as a "carrot" for the resumption of the stalled North Korea denuclearization talks. Pyongyang regularly responds to the drill with harsh rhetoric, calling it a rehearsal for invasion.
In May, Moon mentioned the impossibility of a full-scale drill, citing the COVID-19 pandemic, although many believe that this was a last-ditch effort to improve inter-Korean ties before his presidency ends in May next year.
In addition, 76 lawmakers from three liberal political parties ― the Open Minjoo Party, the Justice Party and the DPK ― called for the suspension of the exercise, last week, to incentivize North Korea to return to talks.
In response to the report, the Ministry of National Defense (MND) said Monday that nothing had been decided yet on the combined exercise.
"The timing, scale and exact method for the upcoming exercise have not been finalized," ministry spokesman Boo Seung-chan said during a press briefing.
Earlier this month, the U.S. Department of Defense told Radio Free Asia that there had been no change in the schedule for the military drill.
In addition, Gen. Paul LaCamera, the new commander of the U.S. Forces Korea, said during his confirmation hearing in May that joint field exercises between South Korean and U.S. troops were extremely important in maintaining their readiness.
Park Won-gon, a professor of North Korean Studies at Ewha Woman University, said the upcoming military exercise would be low-key, considering the current situation.
"Although South Korea and the U.S. will conduct a joint drill in August, it is anticipated to proceed as computer-simulated tabletop exercises without field maneuvers," Park said.
Initially, South Korea planned to use the exercise as a verification process for regaining wartime operational control of the South Korean military from the U.S. before the end of Moon's term, but the transition by the deadline is regarded as being virtually impossible.
"Given the impossibility, the Moon administration is expected to curtail the exercise," Park added.
