. Military Space News .
NUKEWARS
U.S., South Korea postpone joint air exercises for diplomacy
by Yonhap News Agency
Washington (UPI) Nov 17, 2019

US, S. Korea postpone joint drills in 'act of goodwill'
Bangkok (AFP) Nov 17 The US and South Korea will postpone joint air drills in an "act of goodwill" towards the nuclear-armed North, US Defence Secretary Mark Esper said Sunday, after months of deadlocked diplomacy with Pyongyang.

North Korea has long protested joint military drills, which it condemns as preparations for invasion, and has set Washington an end-of-year deadline to come up with a new offer in deadlocked negotiations on its weapons programmes.

The US and South Korea last year cancelled several joint drills in the wake of the Singapore summit between President Donald Trump and the North's leader Kim Jong Un, but were due to carry out a combined air exercise later this month.

The joint air drills will now be postponed, Esper said, days after hinting that the option was on the table.

"We have made this decision as an act of goodwill to contribute to an environment conducive to diplomacy and the advancement of peace," he told reporters on the sidelines of a meeting of defence ministers in Thailand's capital.

He urged Pyongyang to return to negotiations and "demonstrate the same goodwill as it considers decisions on conducting training, exercises and testing".

Esper said the decision to delay the drills was not a concession but an effort to create "some more space" for diplomats to strike an agreement.

His South Korean counterpart Jeong Kyeong-doo said there was no timetable for resuming the exercises.

"It will be a part of our ongoing consultation and we will decide through that close coordination between the two sides," Jeong said.

Pyongyang has carried out a series of missile tests in recent months, including one launched at sea which it said was fired from a submarine -- a potential strategic game-changer.

It has repeatedly demanded that the combined exercise is scrapped, and recently said holding the drills would be an "undisguised breach" of the Singapore summit declaration.

Negotiations have stalled since the follow-up Hanoi summit between Kim and Trump broke up in February, with disagreement over sanctions relief and what the North would be willing to give up in return.

Working-level talks restarted in Sweden in October only to break down quickly, with the North blaming the US for not giving up its "old attitude".

Pyongyang welcomed reports that the joint drills would be postponed in a Sunday statement by an unnamed foreign ministry spokesman, published in state media outlet KCNA.

But the spokesman also lashed the US for its "hostile policy" towards North Korea and blamed Washington for a recent UN meeting that criticised human rights violations under the isolated regime.

"The US has no intention to sincerely work with us towards the settlement of issues. Therefore, we have no willingness to meet," the official said, according to the KCNA report.

- 'Work together' -

Esper was in Bangkok after meeting with South Korean officials during a two-day trip to Seoul.

There he urged the South to drop its plan to end a military intelligence sharing agreement with Japan, which Washington considers vital to security co-operation in the face of the North and ultimately China.

In the latest manifestation of the neighbours' dispute over wartime history, Seoul announced in August it would terminate the pact, saying it did not serve national interests. The agreement expires at midnight on November 22.

On Sunday Esper called for both countries to "work together" to overcome their differences.

"The only people that benefit from friction between Seoul and Tokyo are Pyongyang and Beijing," he said.

Seoul and Tokyo are both major US allies, democracies and market economies faced with an overbearing China and the wayward North.

South Korea and the United States decided to put off their wintertime combined air exercises to support diplomacy with North Korea, the two sides said Sunday, with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper urging Pyongyang to reciprocate the goodwill by returning to nuclear talks.

Esper and South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo announced the surprise decision during an impromptu joint press conference in Bangkok on the sidelines of a regional defense ministers' meeting led by the Association of Southeast Asian Nations.

"We have made this decision as an act of goodwill to contribute to an environment conducive to diplomacy and the advancement of peace," Esper said after announcing that the allies decided to postpone the Combined Flying Training Event set for later this month.

"We encourage the DPRK to demonstrate the same goodwill as the considerate decision on conduct of training, exercise and testing," he said, urging Pyongyang to "return to the negotiating table without precondition or hesitation."

DPRK stands for North Korea's official name, Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

The allies had planned to stage the joint air drills later this month, a scaled-back version of their original wintertime drills, codenamed Vigilant Ace, just as they did last year to support diplomacy with the North.

North Korea still angrily protested the upcoming drills, warning of "shocking punishment" that the U.S. cannot cope with if the drills go ahead as planned.

"We have made this decision as an act of goodwill to contribute to an environment conducive to diplomacy and the advancement of peace," Esper said, adding, "We encourage the DPRK to demonstrate the same goodwill as the considerate decision on conduct of training, exercise and testing."

He then urged North Korea "to return to the negotiating table without precondition or hesitation."

Noting that diplomacy is the best way to achieve the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula, the South Korean minister said that when to resume the postponed drills will be decided "through close coordination between the allies in accordance with how things are going down the road."

Seoul and Washington have canceled several combined exercises since last year in an effort to avoid provoking North Korea with maneuvers the communist regime has long condemned as a rehearsal for an invasion.

Stressing that the alliance between Seoul and Washington remains "ironclad" and their combined military forces "stand ready to fight tonight," the Pentagon chief pledged that the two sides "will continue to ensure our combined forces on the Korean Peninsula remain at a high state of readiness."

"Our willingness to modify training to keep the door open to an agreement on the denuclearization of the DPRK should not be mistaken for a lack of commitment to advance and defend our shared goals, interests and values." DPRK stands for the North's official name, the Democratic People's Republic of Korea.

"I don't see this as a concession. I see this as a good-faith effort by the United States and the Republic of Korea to enable peace and ... to facilitate a political agreement, a deal, if you will, for the denuclearization of the peninsula," Esper said, adding that his job is not only to foster diplomacy but also "to enable and empower it."

Nuclear talks between the U.S. and the North have been stalled since February's summit between U.S. President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un fell apart due to differences over the scope of Pyongyang's denuclearization measures and Washington's sanctions relief.

The two sides held working-level talks last month, but no progress was made.

The North has given the U.S. until the end of the year to put forward a new proposal that could break the deadlock in their nuclear talks, saying that otherwise, it would be compelled to give up on negotiations and choose to take a "new way."

Amid a lack of progress in the denuclearization talks, North Korea has carried out major weapons tests in succession this year, including new types of short-range ballistic missiles and a submarine-launched ballistic missile.


Related Links
Learn about nuclear weapons doctrine and defense at SpaceWar.com
Learn about missile defense at SpaceWar.com
All about missiles at SpaceWar.com
Learn about the Superpowers of the 21st Century at SpaceWar.com


Thanks for being here;
We need your help. The SpaceDaily news network continues to grow but revenues have never been harder to maintain.

With the rise of Ad Blockers, and Facebook - our traditional revenue sources via quality network advertising continues to decline. And unlike so many other news sites, we don't have a paywall - with those annoying usernames and passwords.

Our news coverage takes time and effort to publish 365 days a year.

If you find our news sites informative and useful then please consider becoming a regular supporter or for now make a one off contribution.
SpaceDaily Contributor
$5 Billed Once


credit card or paypal
SpaceDaily Monthly Supporter
$5 Billed Monthly


paypal only


NUKEWARS
Seoul-Tokyo row risks sending 'wrong message': USFK chief
Pyeongtaek , South Korea (AFP) Nov 12, 2019
Seoul's decision to terminate a key military intelligence sharing pact with Japan risks sending the "wrong message" to adversaries, the commander of US troops in South Korea said ahead of the deal's expiration next week. Seoul and Tokyo are both major US allies, democracies and market economies faced with an overbearing China and nuclear-armed North Korea. But their relationship continues to be heavily affected by Japan's colonial rule of the Korean peninsula from 1910 to 1945. The latest ma ... read more

Comment using your Disqus, Facebook, Google or Twitter login.



Share this article via these popular social media networks
del.icio.usdel.icio.us DiggDigg RedditReddit GoogleGoogle

NUKEWARS
Erdogan says would buy Patriots but won't give up S-400s

Russia sends S-400 system to Serbia for drills

US to Turkey: Don't turn on Russian system, avoid sanctions

Turkey, Russia discuss new S-400 supplies: report

NUKEWARS
North Korea fires short-range projectiles: South's military

S. Korea to buy AMRAAM missiles in $253M deal

OpFires program advances technology for upper stage with PDR completion

State Department OKs Javelin missile sale to Ukraine

NUKEWARS
GMV presents dronelocus for the safety and management of USpace

Mosquito courting strategies could inspire quieter drones

Israeli drone overflying Lebanon targeted by missile: army

US Interior Department grounds Chinese-made drones

NUKEWARS
GenDyn nets $783M for next-gen Navy MUOS operations

GatorWings wins DARPA Spectrum Collaboration Challenge

EPS completes multiservice operational test, declared fully operational

China launches new communication technology experiment satellite

NUKEWARS
Catapults, flaming arrows: Hong Kong protesters' medieval tech

Clark Construction lands $570 million contract for Walter Reed renovations

AFRL tests in-house, rapidly developed small engine

AFRL personnel connect with creative thinking process to enhance problem solving

NUKEWARS
EU adopts 13 new projects under PESCO defense-cooperation program

Taiwan seeks return of 'criminal income' from frigate scandal

Sisi suggests floating Egypt military firms on stock exchange

Pentagon awards $10 bn cloud contract to Microsoft, snubbing Amazon

NUKEWARS
Turkey's Erdogan calls Macron's NATO comments 'unacceptable'

Macron rues 'unprecedented' global crisis, says new alliances needed

Bolsonaro says China part of Brazil's future

Beijing slams Pompeo for 'Cold War thinking' in Berlin speech

NUKEWARS
SMART discovers breakthrough way to look at the surface of nanoparticles

Visible light and nanoparticle catalysts produce desirable bioactive molecules

Flexible, wearable supercapacitors based on porous nanocarbon nanocomposites

Scientists create a nanomaterial that is both twisted and untwisted at the same time









The content herein, unless otherwise known to be public domain, are Copyright 1995-2024 - Space Media Network. All websites are published in Australia and are solely subject to Australian law and governed by Fair Use principals for news reporting and research purposes. AFP, UPI and IANS news wire stories are copyright Agence France-Presse, United Press International and Indo-Asia News Service. ESA news reports are copyright European Space Agency. All NASA sourced material is public domain. Additional copyrights may apply in whole or part to other bona fide parties. All articles labeled "by Staff Writers" include reports supplied to Space Media Network by industry news wires, PR agencies, corporate press officers and the like. Such articles are individually curated and edited by Space Media Network staff on the basis of the report's information value to our industry and professional readership. Advertising does not imply endorsement, agreement or approval of any opinions, statements or information provided by Space Media Network on any Web page published or hosted by Space Media Network. General Data Protection Regulation (GDPR) Statement Our advertisers use various cookies and the like to deliver the best ad banner available at one time. All network advertising suppliers have GDPR policies (Legitimate Interest) that conform with EU regulations for data collection. By using our websites you consent to cookie based advertising. If you do not agree with this then you must stop using the websites from May 25, 2018. Privacy Statement. Additional information can be found here at About Us.