My guess would be is that the uncertainty is probably over the annual Key Resolve and UFG exercises held each spring and summer. It seems to me that keeping these exercises on schedule can be used to pressure the Kim regime to make progress on denuclearization. Why reward them with cancelling the exercises if they have not done nothing in return? The fate of these exercises I think will be closely tied to the much discussed Kim-Trump summit that is supposed to happen early next year.
South Korea and the United States have not yet made a decision on whether to continue suspending their joint military exercises next year despite an earlier pledge to finalize the schedules for the drills no later than Dec. 1.
The pledge was made on the sidelines of the annual Security Consultative Meeting in Washington in October. South Korean Defense Minister Jeong Kyeong-doo said he would announce the 2019 joint exercise plans under close consultation with U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis, but no specific timelines or schedules have been confirmed.
“The announcement was expected to be made before the aforementioned deadline, but both defense leaders are still narrowing their differences on the agenda,” the South’s defense ministry spokeswoman Choi Hyun-soo said. “We will announce the details at the earliest possible date.”
This came at a time when the allies are scaling down their joint military drills in reflection of the ongoing peace momentum on the Korean Peninsula.
On Monday, South Korea started an independent air drill replacing the Vigilant Ace joint aerial exercise with the United States, the Joint Chiefs of Staff (JCS) said Monday. [Korea Times]
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