South Korean Army K1A1 and U.S. Army M1A2 tanks fire live rounds during a U.S.-South Korea joint live-fire military exercise, at a training field, near the demilitarized zone, separating the two Koreas in Pocheon, South Korea April 21, 2017. Picture taken on April 21, 2017. REUTERS/Kim Hong-Ji
February 20, 2018
By Christine Kim
SEOUL (Reuters) – Talks to stage a postponed military drill between South Korea and the United States are moving forward, South Korea’s Unification Minister said on Tuesday.
The United States and South Korea had agreed to push back the regular joint military drill until after the Pyeongchang Winter Olympics being hosted in South Korea, which end on Feb. 25.
“I’m aware negotiations are moving towards a direction where the drills will be held,” Cho Myong-gyon said in parliament, replying to lawmakers’ questions about the exercise. He gave no further details on the timing of the drills.
The South Korean and U.S. militaries usually hold military exercises called Key Resolve and Foal Eagle in March and April, which can involve as many as 17,000 U.S. troops and more than 300,000 South Koreans.
North Korea denounces the drills as preparations to invade it, and it has at times conducted missile tests or taken other aggressive action in response.
Pyongyang this month warned it would not sit idle if the United States goes ahead with the military exercises with South Korea, delayed with the aim of ensuring a peaceful Winter Olympics.
Since the decision to delay the drill, North Korea agreed to hold the first official talks with South Korea in more than two years, amid a standoff over Pyongyang’s nuclear and missile programmes.
During those talks North Korea agreed to send its athletes to the Games, along with a cheering squad and orchestra.
South Korea has also been floating the idea of co-hosting the 2021 Asian Winter Games with North Korea, which the South’s Yonhap news agency on Tuesday reported a North Korean official as saying might be possible.
North Korea may also make the North’s Masikryong ski resort available for the Games, said Chang Ung, the North’s representative on the International Olympic Committee.
He made the comments a few days after a South Korean provincial governor said Gangwon province, which is now hosting the winter Olympics, was considering a proposal to co-host the 2021 Asian Winter Games.
The host city for the 2021 event has not yet been decided.
Speaking to a Yonhap reporter at an airport in Beijing, the Chinese capital, Chang said it would be easier for the two sides to co-host the 2021 Asian Winter Games because there is less competition to host them, compared to the Olympics.
As to how that could come about, Chang declined to say, according to Yonhap. He was on his way back to North Korea after observing the Winter Olympics in Pyeongchang.
(Reporting by Christine Kim; Editing by Michael Perry and Clarence Fernandez)
