DPRK warns of upcoming US-ROK drills

Pyongyang: Nuke talks with Washington to be at risk if military exercises go ahead

The Democratic People's Republic of Korea on Tuesday warned that the military drills between the United States and the Republic of Korea to be held next month will affect proposed nuclear talks between Pyongyang and Washington.

It was the first statement from Pyongyang on the issue since US President Donald Trump and DPRK's top leader Kim Jong-un agreed at an impromptu meeting last month to resume stalled denuclearization talks.

"While efforts are underway to arrange working-level talks between the DPRK and the United States in the wake of the top-level meeting at Panmunjom, the US is planning the joint Dong Maeng military exercise," an unnamed spokesperson of the foreign ministry said in comments published by the DPRK's Korean Central News Agency.

The spokesman said in a separate statement that the joint exercises are a "rehearsal for war to militarily crush our republic", adding that Trump has reaffirmed at last month's meeting with Kim that the exercises would be halted.

"If realized, it will affect the working-level talks, and the DPRK will be watching the next move by the US before it decides how to proceed on the talks," he added.

Responding to the Pyongyang's statement, US State Department said it remained upbeat over commitments made by Kim and Trump during their June encounter.

"From our perspective, we would hope that no one would try to block, in their government or our government, the ability for President Trump and Chairman Kim to make progress on the commitments they made to each other in Vietnam," department spokeswoman Morgan Ortagus told reporters.

She declined to comment directly on DPRK's reaction to next month's military drills, referring the question to the Pentagon, and adding: "We look forward, of course, to resuming those negotiations and we hope to talk, always, so we can advance progress on these commitments."

The ROK government also said on Wednesday that it expected the talks to go ahead and that it hoped they would result in "practical progress".

In August, the US and the ROK are due to hold joint military exercises. In his first meeting with Kim in Singapore in June last year, Trump pledged to halt what he called "very provocative" and expensive exercises with the ROK after the two leaders agreed to work toward denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and to improve ties.

While the main annual ROK-US exercises have been stopped, the two countries still hold smaller drills.

A spokesman for the US Defense Department said Washington and Seoul were preparing to conduct the "routine" combined training program next month but suggested the drills had been scaled back to facilitate diplomacy.

"Working with (the ROK), this training program has been adjusted to maintain readiness and support diplomatic efforts," Lieutenant Colonel Dave Eastburn said.

Wang Junsheng, an international relations expert at the National Institute of International Strategy of the Chinese Academy of Social Sciences, said the DPRK has for years denounced military exercises between the US and the ROK.

"As Trump and Kim's second summit in Hanoi failed to reach an agreement, the situation on the Korean Peninsula is particularly complex and sensitive. If the US and the ROK continue to conduct high-profile military exercises, it will undoubtedly trigger a backlash from the DPRK, undermining the current momentum," he said.

Pyongyang, which has long viewed such exercises as "preparation for invasion", demanded that the US and the ROK to "stop their hostile behavior", according to the KCNA news agency.

"While Washington and Seoul are still conducting military operations which was seen as a 'threat' by Pyongyang, it is also difficult for the DPRK to voluntarily giving up its nuclear weapons. This has also become one of the factors protracting the Korean Peninsula's denuclearization progress," Wang added.

Agencies - China Daily

(China Daily 07/18/2019 page11)