‘US, South Korea to reduce scope of joint drill next year’

The United States says its annual joint field military training exercise with South Korea, called Foal Eagle, will be “reduced in scope” next year, arguing that the decision is made in an attempt not to harm diplomacy with North Korea.

US Defense Secretary Jim Mattis announced the news at a press conference at the Pentagon on Wednesday, saying, “Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy.”

However, he did not give details on what a reduced version of the joint exercise would look like.

The drill, conducted annually since 2001, involves thousands of combined ground, air, naval, and special operations troops, and takes place in the spring.

On Thursday, Choi Hyun-soo, the South’s Defense Ministry spokeswoman, said in a presser that Washington and Seoul were still in talks over next spring’s drill and that they would formally announce their decision in early December.

“South Korea and the US are still carrying out a review vis-à-vis next year’s combined exercises. We understand that Secretary Mattis made the remarks (on the Foal Eagle exercise) in line with the allies’ consultations,” she said.

Choi added that the militaries of the two countries were discussing ways to “prop up” the two governments’ diplomatic efforts aimed at pushing forward the process of Pyongyang’s denuclearization.

“We will tell you details when a concrete decision is made on that matter,” she added, without elaborating.

This year’s edition of the Foal Eagle drill and another joint exercise were postponed back in January to accommodate North Korea’s then-upcoming participation in Winter Olympics in South Korea. North Korean athletes participated in the Games in a rare show of unity staged by the two Koreas, and diplomats from the two sides met to defuse tensions.

The US and South Korea also halved the length of the Foal Eagle drill — which had historically run for two months — this year in what seemed to be a minor attempt at de-escalation with Pyongyang.

The exercise eventually took place in April, involving some 11,500 US forces and some 290,000 South Korean troops.

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On Wednesday, Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Chris Logan also said in a statement that Mattis and his South Korean counterpart had agreed during a meeting in October “that it was important for military activities, including exercises, to be conducted in a manner that complements diplomatic efforts to achieve North Korea’s denuclearization while sustaining readiness” of the US and South Korean military forces.

Back in June, US President Donald Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un met in Singapore at an unprecedented summit to work toward denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula and establish new relations.

Trump labeled the joint exercises with South Korea “provocative” and “expensive.” But they were resumed later on.

North Korea, which has long complained about the joint US-South Korea drills, said at the time that the resumption of the exercises risked harming diplomatic efforts by the US and North Korea.

Those efforts have snagged since earlier this year. North Korea has said its unilateral measures have not been reciprocated by the US.

Meanwhile, diplomacy between North and South Koreas has continued at a faster rate and with more tangible results.

The North has firmly defended its weapons programs as a deterrent against hostile policies by the US and its regional allies, South Korea and Japan.

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