North Korea made a show of inviting U.S., South Korean and British TV journalists to destruction of the site, but it’s thought to have been largely torn apart by the last test that sent tremors through the region and killed an unknown number of people.
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South Korea expects a reciprocal action from North Korea to its recent decision to suspend U.S.
The two sides will continue discussing details through the exchange of documents going forward, the South Korean Ministry of Culture, Sports and Tourism said. The other two drills are held in the spring – one computer-simulated and the other a field exercise.
For Pyongyang, the presence of the US military in South Korea and strategic arms the USA forces send to the Korean Peninsula, such as bomber aircraft, have been significant threats.
Japan’s Chief Cabinet Secretary Yoshihide Suga said there would be no changes to joint drill plans between the United States and Japan, both of which regularly practise to deter North Korea.
Trump’s decision raised concern in Japan, which hosts tens of thousands of U.S. troops and has eyed the diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang with deep suspicion.
Japan’s Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera stressed the need for the two countries to continue their other joint drills.
On ease of doing business in India, Ms Park said, “We have about 700 (South Korean) companies in India and they have found opportunities to do business”.
Cancelling the drills, Trump added, would save the USA “a tremendous amount of money”.
It is a combination of Focus Lens exercise led by the United Nations Command since 1954 and S. Korea’s Ulchi exercise that was launched after N. Korea’s infiltration on the Blue House on January 21, 1968.
Holding friendly inter-Korean basketball matches – which Kim proposed during a meeting with South Korean President Moon Jae-in in April – was also on the agenda at the talks, ministry spokesman Hwang Seong Un said. “Plus, I think it’s very provocative”, he said, using language that the Pentagon has in the past made efforts to avoid.
Last year’s Freedom Guardian involved 50,000 South Korean troops and 17,500 from the USA, as well as a few thousand additional personnel from other nations.
Critics in Congress have warned that ending joint drills could weaken the military alliance between the US and South Korea, which hosts 28,500 American troops.
Earlier this year, the Pentagon and the South Korea military postponed Key Resolve and Foal Eagle military exercises until after the Winter Olympics and para-olympics in Pyeongchang, South Korea.
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South Korea’s top diplomat also said the sanctions on the North “will remain in place” until concerned parties can ensure that complete denuclearization of the Korean peninsula has been fulfilled.
