The United States has strongly hinted that its joint military drills with South Korea could soon be back on.
The allies decided to put the exercises on ice earlier this year,... but that could be about to change.
Lee Seung-jae reports.
U.S. Secretary of Defense James Mattis says,... while no decisions have been made about joint military exercises with South Korea for next year,... the U.S. military also has no plans to suspend them.
Speaking during a news conference at the Pentagon on Tuesday,... Mattis said the suspension of the drills this past summer was a good-faith gesture to North Korea,... but it was not open-ended.
The comments come at a delicate time for negotiations between Washington and Pyongyang,... after President Trump scrapped a meeting between top officials from both countries.
At their summit in Singapore in June,... President Trump and North Korean leader Kim Jong-un agreed in broad terms to work toward the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.
However,... North Korea has given no indication that it's willing to give up its nuclear weapons unilaterally,... as the Trump administration has demanded.
Last week,... North Korean officials even reportedly warned U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo that denuclearization talks are at risk of falling apart.
Mattis also defended the Trump administration's approach to North Korea during the press conference, saying the U.S. "knew very clearly" that it was going to be "a long and challenging effort."
The traditional U.S. calendar for major military exercises does not pick up until next spring,... which gives diplomats and military planners time.
The calendar hits a high point every spring with the Foal Eagle and Max Thunder drills,... which take months to plan.
The Max Thunder air combat exercise earlier this year led Pyongyang to issue threatening statements,... which nearly derailed the June summit between Kim and Trump.
Lee Seung-jae, Arirang News.
