Launched on Monday, the joint military exercises between South Korea and the United States were cut short on Wednesday, August 19, by six days after Donald Trump strongly criticized them, the Pentagon however ensuring that it preserved American military “objectives”.
On Sunday, Donald Trump took his close South Korean ally by surprise by saying that these annual exercises sent “a totally inappropriate and hostile signal” to North Korea.
Citing his “very good relationship” with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un, he announced a “considerable” reduction in United States participation in these annual maneuvers intended to simulate combat against Pyongyang’s troops.
The South Korean army therefore announced on Wednesday that these maneuvers, which were initially scheduled to last until August 27, would finally end on Friday.
An “unusual” decision
This change of direction constitutes a major setback for Seoul, a historic ally of the United States. A South Korean military official admitted to AFP that this decision was “unusual”.
In a statement, the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff said it was “adjusting the duration of the UFS exercise” following a “suggestion from the American side”.
The Pentagon, however, assured on Wednesday that these adjustments “preserved the essential objectives in terms of preparation and training”.
“There will be no reduction in American training objectives,” assured the American military command.
The United States maintains a contingent of 28,500 troops in South Korea, one of its main deployments in Asia.
A certain part of them was to be mobilized alongside 18,000 South Korean soldiers for these exercises called Ulchi Freedom Shield (UFS).
This year’s maneuvers are under the sign of the experience acquired by the North Korean army in modern warfare techniques alongside Russia on the Ukrainian front.
Donald Trump has regularly prided himself on his closeness to Kim Jong-un, whom he met three times during his first term in the White House.
A Donald Trump – Kim Jong-un meeting in the fall?
The Wall Street Journal reported Tuesday, citing American officials, that Donald Trump was pressuring his collaborators for a new meeting to take place this fall.
“The suspension of joint exercises has always been a precondition for North Korea to engage in dialogue with the United States,” observes Park Won-gon, professor at South Korea’s Ewha University, for AFP. Also, this “reduction could have a positive impact” in this sense, he believes.
These annual maneuvers systematically irritate North Korea, a closed country which holds nuclear weapons and is technically still at war with the South, since the two parties on the peninsula did not sign a peace treaty at the end of their 1950-1953 conflict.
Pyongyang had carried out missile tests in the run-up to these operations.
The purpose of these exercises is not to “treat a specific entity as an adversary but to preserve, in security and peace, the daily lives of the population”, South Korean President Lee Jae-myung wanted to reassure Tuesday, quoted by his services.
Pyongyang, however, repeated Wednesday, via KCNA, that it intends to assert its “right to self-defense to neutralize military threats from hostile forces.”
In this context, China, one of Pyongyang’s main allies, confirmed on Wednesday that its Foreign Minister Wang Yi would travel to Seoul on Wednesday to meet President Lee.
Beijing has in the past regularly demonstrated its desire to temper its North Korean ally, but Pyongyang is increasingly playing on its strengthened ties with Moscow, according to observers.
With AFP
