Moon dismisses Abe's call to resume military drills

Republic of Korea (ROK) President Moon Jae-in has dismissed Japanese PM Shinzo Abe's call to resume the U.S.-South Korean military drills, Yonhap news agency reported on Saturday.


Abe's call came during a bilateral meeting on Friday before the opening ceremony of PyeongChang Winter Olympics.

Stressing an "actual" change in the Democratic People's Republic of Korea's (DPRK) behavior, Abe said it was not the right time for Seoul and Washington to delay their joint military exercises.

Moon rejected Abe's request, citing it was a violation of the country's sovereignty, an official from Seoul's presidential office told reporters.

"I understand what Prime Minister Abe said is not to delay South Korea-US military drills until there is progress in the denuclearization of North Korea (DPRK). But the issue is about our sovereignty and intervention in our domestic affairs," Moon told the Japanese leader, according to the official.

The United States and ROK agreed in January to delay annual joint military exercises, which had been scheduled to take place during the Winter Olympics, until after the Winter Paralympics Games concludes on March 18.

The decision to delay the Foal Eagle, one of the largest war games in the world, came after the DPRK expressed a new openness for high-level talks and reopened a key cross-border communication channel with ROK for the first time in nearly two years.
 (chinamedia)
 11/2/18