South Korea expressed hopes for reviving stalled talks between the United States and North Korea aimed at easing tensions on the Korean Peninsula.
Later on Monday, South Korean President Lee Jae Myung’s office stated that Seoul hopes the “friendly relationship” between President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong Un will spark a “meaningful dialogue” between Washington and Pyongyang.
The office added that the country is prepared to make the necessary diplomatic efforts to encourage discussions aimed at fostering peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula.
The announcement comes after President Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back the US annual military exercises with South Korea, citing his good relationship with Kim.
In his Truth Social post, Trump wrote that the exercises are not only costly but send a signal that is totally inappropriate and hostile to North Korea.
Besides North Korea, Trump also cited the Iran issue as a pretext to cut back the military drills. “While somewhat unrelated , I recently asked the President of South Korea if they would like to join us in the Denuclearization of the Islamic Republic of Iran, and they said, ‘No thanks!’” Trump wrote.
North Korea did not immediately respond to the announcement. Previously, the country threatened that the US-South Korean military drill could evoke strong responses, citing them as invasion rehearsal.
Prior to military exercises with Washington, President Lee on Saturday proposed talks to formally end conflict with North Korea over the Peninsula.
“Let us put down our intention to threaten each other and begin discussions to end the long-running war as the directly involved parties,” Lee said in his speech.
“Through this, it may also be possible to discuss effective measures to halt the advancement of North Korea’s nuclear capabilities,” he added.
Experts also viewed Trump’s move as an effort to revive talks with North Korea. But here is the catch. The North Korean leader emboldened by nuclear capabilities will be reluctant to come to the negotiation table unless he is given the US concessions.
Leif-Eric Easley, a professor at Ewha University in Seoul, “Trump’s recent social media posts about Kim Jong Un suggest a willingness to reengage, but North Korea is busy profiting from Russia’s war against Ukraine while modernizing its own military.”
He continued, “Downsizing the U.S. and South Korean drills can damage alliance coordination, slow the process of South Korea taking on greater responsibility for its own defense, and weaken deterrence against possible conflicts in Asia.”
