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US Navy aircraft carrier USS George Washington is pictured during Freedom Edge trilateral exercise among United States, Japan and Korea in the East China Sea, south of the Korean peninsula and west of Japan’s main islands. (Reuters/File photo)
- Korea, Japan and the US will conduct joint military drills from September 9-11
Republic Korea supports US President Donald Trump’s efforts to resume dialogue with North Korea, but aims to ensure its security posture is not weakened and that Seoul is not sidelined, Korea’s national security adviser said yesterday.
Seoul believes the resumption of talks between the US and North Korea should focus on progress on the North Korean nuclear weapons issue and must not undermine the country’s security readiness, Wi Sung-lac told reporters. “One point to keep in mind is the need to co-ordinate with the US to ensure that any resumption of US-North Korea dialogue leads to substantive progress on the North Korean nuclear issue, alongside efforts to establish a peace regime on the Korean Peninsula,” Wi said.
To achieve these aims, policy coordination and communication between South Korea and the US were more important than ever, he said.
Wi cited Trump’s order earlier this month to substantially scale back major joint military drills between the two allies, saying the US president was signalling a willingness to engage with North Korea.
At the same time, Seoul should ensure it was not “sidelined” in Washington’s efforts to restart talks with Pyongyang, Wi said.
Trump cited in part Seoul’s refusal to offer help in the Iran war for cutting short the Ulchi Freedom Shield drills this month and said they sent a wrong message to North Korea. Trump has been seeking a new summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un.
The two met three times in 2018 and 2019.
Korea, Japan and the US will conduct joint military drills from September 9-11 to test readiness against North Korea’s missile and nuclear weapons threats, Korea said yesterday.
Wi said Korea is seeking to deepen co-operation with Washington on a range of issues that have sometimes caused friction between the allies.
These include Korean investment in the US agreed under a trade deal, the treatment of US-listed e-commerce firm Coupang, security co-operation, intelligence sharing and the transfer of wartime operational control, he said.
