Pentagon announces end of springtime military drills with South Korea

[Swordsmyth]

The Pentagon (https://www.foxnews.com/category/politics/defense/pentagon) announced Saturday that it would be ending large-scale springtime military drills with South Korea, just days after President Trump raised concerns over how “expensive” they were for the U.S.
Acting Secretary of Defense Patrick Shanahan came to the decision to officially end drills planned for the spring in a call with South Korea’s Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-doo on Saturday.
A readout of the call from the Pentagon said that the pair reviewed Trump’s second summit in Hanoi with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un (https://www.foxnews.com/world/after-trump-kim-summit-collapses-north-korea-insists-they-made-realistic-proposal-about-lifting-sanctions).


“Minister Jeong expressed his regrets that a complete agreement was not reached while also noting his hopes for the U.S. and the DPRK to continue further vigorous conversations based on the discussion results of the Summit.”
While both officials agreed to maintain close coordination between military activities, they ultimately decided to end the series of exercises.

“The secretary and minister reviewed and approved the Alliance decisions recommended by the Commander of U.S. Forces Korea and the Republic of Korea Joint Chiefs of Staff on the combined exercise and training program. Following close coordination, both sides decided to conclude the KEY RESOLVE and FOAL EAGLE series of exercises.”


The move to end military drills reflects both countries’ desire to “reduce tension and support our diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization.”
The decision comes just days after Trump called on South Korea to increase financial support of the drills.

More at: https://www.foxnews.com/politics/pentagon-announces-end-of-springtime-military-drills-with-south-korea

[Zippyjuan]

Misleading. They are not ending drills- only "large scale" exercises. They will be having smaller war games this month with thousands still participating.

https://www.post-gazette.com/news/politics-nation/2019/03/02/U-S-and-South-north-Korea-end-large-scale-military-exercises-in-favor-of-smaller-versions/stories/201903020075


U.S. and South Korea end large-scale military exercises in favor of smaller versions

U.S. and South Korean officials announced Saturday that they will end longtime military exercises that had riled North Korean leader Kim Jong Un’s regime and drawn criticism from President Donald Trump, replacing them with smaller operations.

The Pentagon disclosed the decision Saturday evening after a phone call between acting defense secretary Patrick Shanahan and his South Korean counterpart, Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo. They agreed “to conclude” the exercises, replacing them with “newly designed Command Post exercises and revised field training program,” according to a Pentagon statement.

“The Minister and Secretary made clear that the Alliance decision to adapt our training program reflected our desire to reduce tension and support our diplomatic efforts to achieve complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula in a final, fully verified manner,” the statement said.

The specifics and names of the new exercises were not disclosed Saturday. But a U.S. defense official, speaking on the condition of anonymity because of the sensitivity of the discussions, said Shanahan had hoped to find a solution that would allow the U.S. and South Korean militaries to continue the elements of the exercises focused on maintaining joint readiness while foregoing elements that in the past had been intended as a show of force.

Those elements, the Pentagon leadership has concluded, could be viewed as saber-rattling at a time when the military looks to support diplomacy with North Korea, the official said. The plans to scale back the exercise could have some impact on readiness, officials said, but it’s not yet clear how much.

Both the Foal Eagle series of exercises held in the spring and the Key Resolve exercises traditionally held in the summer will conclude. They focused on preparing for the possibility of war with North Korea, and involved thousands of troops. At times, they included U.S. bombers, submarines and other displays of force.


“Foal Eagle is being reorganized a bit to keep it at a level that will not be harmful to diplomacy,” he said.

More at link.

https://www.nbcnews.com/news/military/u-s-end-large-scale-military-drills-south-korea-n978111


While the U.S. has pulled back on its exercises, North Korea has pressed ahead with its own drills. Gen. Robert Abrams, commander of U.S. forces in Korea, recently testified that North Korea was preparing to carry out its annual winter cycle of training with 1 million troops.

US cuts back their military exercises but North Korea does not. Winning?

[RonZeplin]

Did Bolton Blow North Korea? (http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/2019/march/04/did-bolton-blow-north-korea/)

Written by Ron Paul (http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/archives/featured-articles/?author=Ron+Paul)
Monday March 4, 2019

http://www.ronpaulinstitute.org/media/119308/rp-weekly-button.jpg?width=450&height=185

President Trump’s second summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong-Un last week was criticized by both parties in Washington long before Air Force One even touched down in Hanoi. Washington’s political class seemed terrified that the nearly 70 year state of “war” with North Korea might actually end. In the end the only positive thing they could say about the meeting was that Trump apparently walked away with nothing to show for it.

The location of the meeting – Hanoi, Vietnam – serves as a great example of what can be won in peace versus what is lost in war. After losing nearly 60,000 US service members in an unnecessary war that took a million Vietnamese lives, the US loss of the Vietnam war resulted not in a communist takeover of southeast Asia but something very different: the domino theory failed because communism was destined to fail. Now we are close trading partners with an increasingly pro-market Vietnam. The result of trade and exchange versus war is a better life for all.

Unfortunately for Washington, the real lesson of Vietnam has not been learned. That is why the Republicans, Democrats, and the entire mainstream media spoke as one against President Trump’s decision to take a bold step and actually meet again, one-on-one, with one of our “enemies” to see if we can avoid nuclear conflict.

One leading Democrat, House Intelligence Committee Chairman Adam Schiff (D-CA), attacked Trump for meeting with Kim because speaking to the North Korean “gives him legitimacy.” Does it make any sense that we should not even speak with our nuclear-armed adversaries because it gives them “legitimacy”? He’d rather have a nuclear war as long as Kim remains “illegitimate”? This is sadly the kind of thinking that prevails in Washington.

The media reported that Trump walked away from the meeting before the scheduled signing ceremony and closing press event. The talks broke down, it was reported, because Kim demanded an end to all sanctions before any reduction in North Korea’s nuclear arsenal. Washington sighed with relief and said all together, “better no deal than a bad deal.”

Meanwhile the North Koreans held a rare press conference clarifying that they only asked for partial sanctions relief in exchange for dismantling one of their main nuclear facilities. Further, press reports began to surface that National Security Advisor John Bolton threw additional demands on the table which led Kim to draw the meeting to an early close.

Who’s telling the truth? We likely won’t know. But given Bolton’s strong opposition to any kind of peace agreement with North Korea it’s hard to doubt that he had something to do with the blow-up of the summit. As the New York Times reported over the weekend, while Trump’s advisors were shocked when he decided to meet Kim face-to-face the first time for negotiations, John Bolton wasn’t worried at all. As the Times writes, “Mr. Bolton told colleagues not to worry. The negotiations, he said, would collapse on their own.” And so they did.

Will Trump continue to allow his diplomatic efforts to be undermined by his own staff? Let’s hope the president will ignore Washington, ignore the neocons, and continue to work for peace with North Korea.

[Stratovarious]

Military Drills are more 'expensive' than killing millions of civilians all over the world,
I guess that makes sense to someone.

[Swordsmyth]

Military Drills are more 'expensive' than killing millions of civilians all over the world,
I guess that makes sense to someone.
Ending either one is a good thing though.

[Stratovarious]

Ending either one is a good thing though.
Agreed, but I want both.

[Swordsmyth]

Agreed, but I want both.
Me:

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk%2Fi%2Fi-want-it-all-and-i-want-it-now.png&f=1

[enhanced_deficit]

Have never really understood what was the objective/gain from tax payers money spent on joint exercises with SK?
SK doesn't have any strong lobby either that can help our America-First leader win elections.

At least tax payers money spent on military exercises with our closest ally in mideast will please MAGA's top funder Adelson.



U.S. deploys THAAD missile defense in Israel for exercise
It is the first such exercise in Israel, although the two allies hold regular joint war games
Published March 04, 2019


This shift in money expenditure in foreign lands is another is win for America First GOP-Adelson.

[Stratovarious]

Me:

https://proxy.duckduckgo.com/iu/?u=http%3A%2F%2Fsd.keepcalm-o-matic.co.uk%2Fi%2Fi-want-it-all-and-i-want-it-now.png&f=1

Now is too late...:frog:

[Swordsmyth]

Now is too late...:frog:
I agree but unless Trump really is a time traveler it is the best we can hope for.

[Stratovarious]

I agree but unless Trump really is a time traveler it is the best we can hope for.

Right but, military drills is a distraction compared to bringing troops home.

[Swordsmyth]

Right but, military drills is a distraction compared to bringing troops home.
Absolutely, but it is possibly a step towards bring them home from S. Korea, bringing them home from active war zones would be even better yet and Trump is beginning to do that too. (Not fast enough to suit me but its something)

[Stratovarious]

Absolutely, but it is possibly a step towards bring them home from S. Korea, bringing them home from active war zones would be even better yet and Trump is beginning to do that too. (Not fast enough to suit me but its something)
I'll be convinced when he stops putting Israel first and actually brings all of our troops home, Hilary is
still free, there is a lot that has really got me scratching my head about my hero.