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US, S. Korea confirm suspending military drills
By Sunghee Hwang
Seoul (AFP) June 19, 2018

North Korea's Kim visiting China Tuesday and Wednesday: state media
Beijing (AFP) June 19, 2018 - North Korean leader Kim Jong Un is visiting China on Tuesday and Wednesday, state broadcaster CCTV said, a week after his unprecedented summit with US President Donald Trump.

CCTV did not say whether Kim had arrived in Beijing, but security lined the freeway leading to the city's airport Tuesday morning as authorities prepared for his arrival.

The trip will be Kim's third to China since March, when he made his inaugural foreign trip as leader.

An AFP reporter in Pyongyang said the only scheduled international flight -- an Air Koryo plane to Beijing -- had been briefly delayed for no apparent reason, which often happens when Kim travels.

Kim is seeking relief from economic sanctions in return for his pledge to denuclearise and is believed to be seeking support from China for that, Japan's Nikkei business daily said in a dispatch from Beijing.

Following the historic US-North Korea summit in Singapore a week ago, China suggested the UN Security Council could consider easing the economic punishment of its Cold War-era ally.

China was not a direct player in the negotiations in Singapore but retains strong influence behind the scenes.

US Secretary of State Mike Pompeo rushed to Beijing to brief Chinese President Xi Jinping and other top leaders soon after the Trump-Kim meeting.

In a joint statement following the Singapore summit, Kim pledged to "work toward the complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula."

Trump hailed this as a concession but critics said the stock phrase long used by Pyongyang stopped short of longstanding US demands for North Korea to give up its atomic arsenal in a "verifiable" and "irreversible" way.

In return, Trump said he would stop joint military drills with South Korea, long seen as a provocation by Pyongyang and Beijing.

On Tuesday, the US and South Korean militaries confirmed they have called off upcoming joint exercises following Trump's order.

US and South Korean officials confirmed Tuesday the suspension of scheduled joint military drills, making good on a pledge by President Donald Trump during his summit with North Korea's leader.

Seoul, which has tens of thousands of US troops on its soil to help protect it from its hostile northern neighbour, said the suspension would affect the large-scale Ulchi Freedom Guardian exercises slated for August.

"South Korea and the US plan to continue discussions for further measures," the South's defence ministry said in a statement, adding that "no decisions have been reached for other ensuing drills."

Some 17,500 US military personnel were due to take part in the Freedom Guardian drills.

"We are still coordinating additional actions. No decisions on subsequent war games have been made," Pentagon spokeswoman Dana White said in confirming the suspension.

"There is no impact on Pacific exercises outside of the Korean Peninsula."

White said US Defence Secretary Jim Mattis, Secretary of State Mike Pompeo and National Security Advisor John Bolton would meet later this week at the Pentagon to discuss the issue.

Last week, Trump made the surprise announcement that the US would halt "war games" with its South Korean security ally -- without making clear when the freeze would begin.

The US leader raised eyebrows by describing the exercises as "provocative" -- a term used by the North.

US and South Korean forces have been training together for years, and routinely rehearse everything from beach landings to an invasion from the North, or even "decapitation" strikes targeting the North Korean regime.

Pyongyang typically reacts furiously. Following drills last year, the North fired ballistic missiles over Japan, triggering global alarm.

- Complete denuclearisation -

Trump's decision raised concern in Japan, which hosts tens of thousands of US troops and has eyed the diplomatic outreach to Pyongyang with deep suspicion.

But officials were sanguine on the announcement Tuesday, with Defence Minister Itsunori Onodera saying Trump's move would not affect US-Japan exercises.

"In talks with Secretary Mattis, we confirmed that we will implement drills between Japan and the US," he told reporters.

Foreign Minister Taro Kono added that Tokyo understood the drills were being halted as a way to press Pyongyang to negotiate in good faith.

"I understand that if North Korea stops negotiating with good will, the joint drills will resume," he said.

Choi Hyun-soo, a South Korea defence ministry spokeswoman, added: "We are expecting a corresponding measure from North Korea in response to the suspension of the joint drills."

At their landmark Singapore summit, Trump and North Korea's Kim Jong Un signed a joint statement in which Pyongyang committed to "work toward complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula."

But critics have pointed to the vague wording of the non-binding document and raised fears that the summit could weaken the international coalition against the North's nuclear programme.

Pompeo, who has stressed that sanctions will remain in place until North Korea's complete denuclearisation, said he plans to meet Kim for follow-up talks.

South Korea said sanctions against the North could be eased once it takes "substantive steps towards denuclearisation," seemingly setting the bar lower than Washington for such a move.

But Pompeo's office said both allies remain "committed to the goal of complete, verifiable and irreversible denuclearisation."

burs-sah/amz


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NUKEWARS
S. Korea holds war games to defend against Japan
Seoul (AFP) June 18, 2018
South Korea on Monday began two days of war games to practise defending the disputed Dokdo islands off its east coast - against an unlikely attack by Japan. The drills come just days after President Donald Trump announced the suspension of long-running US joint exercises with South Korea - aimed at deterring North Korea - calling them expensive and "provocative". The two-day exercise - tiny compared with the suspended US-South Korea war games - will involve six warships and seven aircraft ... read more

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