South Korea not mulling joint drills as leverage for inter-Korean talks: official

Seoul, Dec 7 South Korea is not considering adjusting its joint military drills with the United States as part of efforts to resume stalled talks with North Korea, National Security Advisor Wi Sung-lac said Sunday.

Wi made the remarks when asked whether Seoul might review the regular exercises with Washington to help revive the inter-Korean dialogue, as Pyongyang has dismissed Seoul's overtures in South Korean President Lee Jae Myung's first six months in office.

"If we are to resume dialogue, we need to consider what cards we can use. While there are many possible options, we are not directly considering using the Korea-US joint exercises as a card," Wi said during a press briefing, Yonhap News Agency reported.

Wi acknowledged that progress in inter-Korean relations has been limited, pledging continued efforts to ease tensions on the Korean Peninsula and resume dialogue with Pyongyang.

Last month, Lee said that although a stable peace regime in which large-scale exercises are unnecessary would be desirable in the long term, decisions on drills must depend on evolving security circumstances. He added that it is premature to draw conclusions on the matter, calling it "the most sensitive" issue for North Korea.

Pyongyang has long denounced the Seoul-Washington exercises as "war rehearsals", while the allies claim they are defensive in nature.

Lee has renewed his call for dialogue after Seoul proposed military talks to clarify the Military Demarcation Line to prevent unintended clashes near the border, but Pyongyang has yet to respond.

Wi later told reporters that North Korea's omission from Washington's recent National Security Strategy (NSS) does not appear to stem from US indifference to North Korean issues, but may instead be attributed to its "America First" focus.

"There appears to be no reason to believe the US is uninterested in resolving North Korea's nuclear issues or in resuming talks with the North," Wi said, adding that the issues may be dealt with in lower-level documents in the future.

Last Friday, US President Donald Trump's administration released the document outlining its stance on foreign policy, defence and economic security, without mentioning North Korea, a departure from past documents.

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