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There have been no talks with the United States over resuming joint military exercises in South Korea, according to Seoul's presidential office Wednesday.
U.S. President Donald Trump unexpectedly suspended large drills this summer after reaching a broad denuclearization agreement with North Korean Chairman Kim Jong-un in June.
But after weeks without progress in terms of the North's nukes, American Secretary of Defense James Mattis said Tuesday that they "have no plans at this time to suspend any more exercises".
Pyongyang views the so-called war games as preparations for an invasion.
Even though the allies have maintained they are defensive in nature, Trump's concession was seen as a gesture of good faith.
While Washington can legitimately argue that there was never an agreement to abandon joint drills altogether, Trump even spoke in June of a future pullout of American troops from the peninsula.
Around 30,000 U.S. forces are stationed in South Korea as a legacy of the Korean War.
Regarding future military exercises, Seoul's presidential office spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom was quoted by Yonhap News Agency insisting "it is an issue that should be discussed and decided by South Korea and the U.S. while reviewing the progress in the denuclearization of North Korea".
"As of now, the issue has not been discussed between South Korea and the United States," Kim stated at a press briefing.
Despite the cancellation of this week's planned trip by American Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to Pyongyang, South Korean President Moon Jae-in remains on course to visit the North Korean capital for a summit next month.
Seoul will "review" the opening of an inter-Korean liaison office in North Korea, according to a presidential official on Monday.The planned facility was an important outcome of April's first inter-Korean summit in over a decade, as both sides vowed to improve bilateral ties after years of military threats.But with doubts already rising over whether the U.S. would offer its blessing due to sanctions on the North, Washington's denuclearization deadlock with Pyongyang has further threatened the future of the office -- especially since U.S. President Donald Trump announced last Friday the cancellation of a scheduled visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo to North Korea this week.North Korea newspaper blasts 'double-dealing' US after Pompeo's trip cancelled"The opening of the liaison office had been planned under smooth progress (in denuclearization efforts), such as Pompeo's North Korea trip and the South-North Korea summit, but we believe there is a need to once again review the issue since a new development has emerged," local news agency Yonhap quoted Seoul's presidential office spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom as saying.The developments came as South Korean President Moon Jae-in is due to travel to Pyongyang next month for his third meeting with Chairman Kim Jong-un this year."This is not an issue that can solely be decided by our government and is one that needs to be discussed with the North side, but we have yet to learn how the North evaluates the change in conditions," Seoul's spokesman added.Korean NGOs mark Rohingya Genocide Remembrance DayFollowing a flurry of unprecedented diplomatic engagement without actually agreeing a denuclearization timeline, Pyongyang has clearly stated its disappointment with the way the U.S. continues to stand in the way of its cooperation with the outside world by enforcing sanctions.Meanwhile, Seoul is caught between its traditional ally, Washington, and efforts to bolster relations with its neighbor -- particularly in areas of apparent disagreement between the U.S. and South Korea, such as the latter's desire to build ties on the peninsula and formally end the 1950-53 Korean War.The U.S. insists North Korea can enjoy a prosperous future, but only after it fully denuclearizes.North Korean media calls US demands 'foolish'
Seoul to ‘review’ inter-Korean liaison office plan
North Korea's state-controlled newspaper on Sunday accused the United States of "double-dealing" and "hatching a criminal plot" against Pyongyang, after Washington abruptly cancelled a visit by Secretary of State Mike Pompeo.Negotiations have been all but deadlocked since U.S. President Donald Trump's summit with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore in June.Pompeo has pressed for tangible steps toward North Korea's abandonment of its nuclear arsenal while Pyongyang is demanding that Washington first make concessions of its own.North Korea's Rodong Sinmun newspaper said U.S. special units based in Japan were staging an air drill aimed at "the infiltration into Pyongyang", citing a South Korean media outlet."Such acts prove that the U.S. is hatching a criminal plot to unleash a war against the DPRK and commit a crime which deserves merciless divine punishment in case the U.S. fails in the scenario of the DPRK's unjust and brigandish denuclearisation first," the paper said."We cannot but take a serious note of the double-dealing attitudes of the U.S. as it is busy staging secret drills involving man-killing special units while having a dialogue with a smile on its face," it noted.A spokesman at the U.S. Embassy in Seoul said he had no information on the drill alleged in the newspaper. The U.S. military spokesman in South Korea was not immediately available to comment.The editorial, which did not mention the Pompeo visit, urged Washington to give up the "pointless military gamble" and implement the Singapore agreement, in which the leaders pledged to work towards a complete denuclearisation of the Korean Peninsula.Since the summit, the two sides have struggled to narrow differences over the North’s nuclear weapons programme.Pyongyang is calling for a declaration of peace as part of security guarantees designed to encourage it to abandon its nuclear weapons and ballistic missiles, while the Trump administration says a peace deal and other concessions will only come after more progress on denuclearisation.In part to reassure North Korea, Trump cancelled or delayed joint military drills with South Korea, but smaller exercises continue.Trump partly blamed China for the lack of progress with North Korea and suggested that talks with Pyongyang could be on hold until after Washington resolved its bitter trade dispute with Beijing. China expressed "serious concern" about Trump's comments, which it called "irresponsible".China rejects US assertion it is holding up North Korea progressTrump halts Pompeo from going to North KoreaNorth Korean media calls US demands 'foolish'
North Korea newspaper blasts 'double-dealing' US after Pompeo's trip cancelled
A group of South Korean organizations voiced support for Rohingya refugees Friday by demanding Myanmar guarantee safe return for the world’s most persecuted community who took shelter in neighboring Bangladesh.South Korean activists gathered in front of the Myanmar embassy in Seoul to express solidarity with refugees on Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day.In a written statement, the Korean Civil Society said it organized the protest “to honor victims killed by Myanmar government last year and to band together with the most persecuted people who have been denied the right to call ‘Rohingya’ themselves.”Video: Will the Rohingyas ever go back home?On Aug. 25, 2017, Myanmar launched a major military crackdown on the Muslim ethnic minority, killing 25,000 civilians and forcing 750,000 others to flee to Bangladesh.The Korean Civil Society, a group of 32 Korean organizations, called attention to “the fact that the Myanmar government has for a long time maintained a broad and systematic way of collective violence, deportation and legal and institutional discrimination against the Rohingya people”.The statement criticized the “organized genocide” and “typical ethnic cleansing” by the government of Aung San Suu Kyi who is a Nobel Peace Prize laureate.Mentioning Rohingya people’s right to return home, the group urged “the Myanmar government to guarantee their voluntary, safe and dignified return”.South Korean NGOs demanded independent investigations into the Rohingya genocide, unrestricted access of international media and human rights group to the area.They also called on Myanmar to acknowledge “Rohingya as indigenous people and give them the citizenship” while demanding the UN Security Council “submit the case of the genocide to the International Criminal Court”.“The Myanmar government should ensure voluntary, safe and dignified return of all the refugees, and ensure active participation in the repatriation discussion,” according to the statement and the group urged its own government to extend a helping hand to Rohingya refugees.- Persecuted RohingyaSince Aug. 25, 2017, more than 24,000 Rohingya Muslims have been killed by Myanmar’s state forces, according to the Ontario International Development Agency (OIDA).In its recent report, Forced Migration of Rohingya: The Untold Experience, the OIDA increased the estimated number of murdered Rohingya to 23,962 (±881) from an earlier Doctors Without Borders figure of 9,400.More than 34,000 Rohingya were also thrown into fires, while over 114,000 others were beaten, the OIDA report said, adding that 17,718 (±780) Rohingya women and girls were raped by the Myanmar army and police. More than 115,000 Rohingya houses were burned and 113,000 others were vandalized, it added.According to Amnesty International, more than 750,000 Rohingya refugees, mostly children and women, have fled Myanmar and crossed into Bangladesh after Myanmar forces launched a crackdown on the minority Muslim community.The Rohingya, described by the UN as the world's most persecuted people, have faced heightened fears of attack since dozens were killed in communal violence in 2012.The UN documented mass gang rapes, killings -- including of infants and young children -- brutal beatings, and disappearances committed by Myanmar state forces. In its report, UN investigators said such violations may have constituted crimes against humanity.
Korean NGOs mark Rohingya Genocide Remembrance Day
North Korea indicated Friday that unless Washington is prepared to drop its hardline approach to denuclearization, U.S. Secretary of State Mike Pompeo's visit next week to Pyongyang will be a wasted one."It's a foolish idea if the U.S. thinks our country would surrender by itself, like other countries who gave in to persistent American sanction pressure," commented the North's state-run propaganda website Uriminzokkiri.The same outlet criticized Washington's new sanctions on Russian entities accused of doing illicit business with North Korea as a "miscalculation" that will prove to be ineffective.North Korean leader Kim Jong-un also recently condemned sanctions against his regime as "brigandish."Pyongyang has repeatedly called for simultaneous measures to build trust with the U.S., rejecting Washington's stance that the North should fully denuclearize before gaining sanctions relief or any other benefits such as a formal peace treaty to end the 1950-53 Korean War.Pompeo's visit scheduled for next week will be his fourth trip to the North Korean capital, although he has been unable to make tangible progress since the broad denuclearization agreement between Trump and Kim reached this June.Pyongyang's Foreign Ministry even denounced the U.S. for making "gangster-like" demands after Pompeo's last visit in early July.This time, Washington's top envoy will be accompanied by a new special representative for North Korea, Stephen Biegun, a vice president of U.S. automaker Ford.Biegun was picked Thursday to fill the void left by Joseph Yun, who retired in February.Meanwhile, Seoul's presidential office expressed optimism about Washington's diplomacy with Pyongyang, despite the apparent gap between them."We hope Secretary Pompeo will make big progress in denuclearization and peace on the Korean Peninsula when he visits North Korea," spokesman Kim Eui-kyeom told reporters Friday, according to local news agency Yonhap.South Korean President Moon Jae-in is in line to head to the North next month, following two inter-Korean summits earlier this year.North Korean leader Kim slams sanctions
North Korean media calls US demands 'foolish'