S. Korea, U.S. to scale back military drill next spring: Mattis
- 5 years ago
Our top story this morning...
South Korea and the United States have agreed to scale back their joint 'Foal Eagle' military exercise early next year... in a bid to keep the nuclear negotiations with North Korea on track.
Lee Seung-jae starts us off.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis says South Korea and the United States will curtail a joint military exercise set for next spring to facilitate smooth negotiations on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday,... Mattis said the 'Foal Eagle' exercise will be "reduced in scope" and "reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy."
The latest adjustment will be the fifth joint exercise to be scaled back,... as a concession to the Kim Jong-un regime,... following the regime's pledge to dismantle its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. agreed at their Singapore summit in June to work toward the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
After that summit,... U.S. President Donald Trump said "provocative" and "expensive" war games with South Korea would be stopped during negotiations with the North.
Foal Eagle is a major joint exercise that's held every spring on the Korean Peninsula,... and is one of three large-scale drills,... the others being Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Key Resolve.
North Korea has long regarded the exercises as rehearsals for an invasion,... despite assurances from Seoul and Washington that they're purely defensive in nature.
In another development Wednesday,... U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he continues to hope a second summit between Kim Jong-un and President Trump will take place early next year.
Speaking on a talk radio show,... Pompeo said the U.S. is continuing negotiations with the North to get the regime to implement what Kim Jong-un has committed to: a fully and verifiably denuclearized North Korea.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
South Korea and the United States have agreed to scale back their joint 'Foal Eagle' military exercise early next year... in a bid to keep the nuclear negotiations with North Korea on track.
Lee Seung-jae starts us off.
U.S. Defense Secretary James Mattis says South Korea and the United States will curtail a joint military exercise set for next spring to facilitate smooth negotiations on North Korea's nuclear weapons program.
Speaking to reporters at the Pentagon on Wednesday,... Mattis said the 'Foal Eagle' exercise will be "reduced in scope" and "reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy."
The latest adjustment will be the fifth joint exercise to be scaled back,... as a concession to the Kim Jong-un regime,... following the regime's pledge to dismantle its nuclear and ballistic missile programs.
The leaders of North Korea and the U.S. agreed at their Singapore summit in June to work toward the "complete" denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
After that summit,... U.S. President Donald Trump said "provocative" and "expensive" war games with South Korea would be stopped during negotiations with the North.
Foal Eagle is a major joint exercise that's held every spring on the Korean Peninsula,... and is one of three large-scale drills,... the others being Ulchi Freedom Guardian and Key Resolve.
North Korea has long regarded the exercises as rehearsals for an invasion,... despite assurances from Seoul and Washington that they're purely defensive in nature.
In another development Wednesday,... U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo said he continues to hope a second summit between Kim Jong-un and President Trump will take place early next year.
Speaking on a talk radio show,... Pompeo said the U.S. is continuing negotiations with the North to get the regime to implement what Kim Jong-un has committed to: a fully and verifiably denuclearized North Korea.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.