The Pentagon is taking a backseat in order to give space to sensitive new military talks between ally South Korea and a North Korean regime that has threatened the U.S. with nuclear devastation.
The restrained approach comes as some private analysts warn the North — which has already said its nuclear programs won’t be up for discussion in the bilateral talks — could use the military talks to try to drive a wedge between Seoul and Washington.
Senior service leaders and Defense Department officials have withheld comment on a reported deal between the two Koreas to end up a long diplomatic freeze with talks on improved communication links, military issues and the upcoming Winter Olympic Games in South Korea. U.S. officials did, however, reiterate the military’s public support for the political effort being led by the State Department to address the North’s provocations and its nuclear ambitions.
The Pentagon’s focus “continues to be a diplomatic and economic effort” to constrain the regime of Kim Jong Un, Chief of Naval Operations Adm. John Richardson told reporters Tuesday.
Adm. Richardson declined to comment on whether military to military engagements between North and South Korea could ease international pressure on Pyongyang or whether the burgeoning talks could affect U.S. military operations in the Pacific.
But the North Korean negotiators at times appeared to be explicitly trying to separate South Korea from its ally in Washington. Chief North Korean delegate Ri Son Gwon noted Tuesday his country’s nuclear weapons are aimed at the United States, not South Korea.
“All our state-of-the-art strategic weapons like atomic bombs, hydrogen bombs and intercontinental ballistic rockets are completely targeting the United States. They are not targeting our compatriots” in the South, Mr. Ri said at the border village of Panmunjom where the talks were held, according to the Associated Press.
South Korea’s president said Wednesday he’s open to meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un if certain conditions are met, as he vowed to push for more talks with the North to resolve the nuclear standoff.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in won election last year on a platform of expanded outreach to the North, a hope that was cut short as continued nuclear and missile tests by Pyongyang sent tensions soaring. But some fear Mr. Moon is now too eager to ease the standoff on the peninsula. According to wire reports, the South Korean leader said Wednesday he’s open to meeting with his North Korean counterpart if certain conditions are met. The overture came one day after the two Koreas held their first high-level meeting in about two years.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert told reporters in Washington Tuesday that the U.S. government welcomed the talks on the Olympics, and was consulting with Seoul to ensure that any agreement does not violate U.N. sanctions imposed over Pyongyang’s nuclear weapons, the AP reported.
Defense Secretary James Mattis and the White House’s national security team have “made clear the role of the military is to provide the backstop” to the diplomacy-driven strategy on North Korea being put forth by the Trump administration, Adm. Richardson said after a speech at the Surface Navy Association’s annual conference in Crystal City, Va.
Mr. Mattis sought to ease concerns among U.S. allies in the region. A day ahead of the North-South Korean talks, Mr. Mattis assured his Japanese counterpart, Minister of Defense Itsunori Onodera, Washington’s position on North Korea would not waver.
President Trump has also praised the thawing of relations on the peninsula, saying he fully backs ongoing engagement between Seoul and Pyongyang — and suggesting his own get-tough policy helped force Pyongyang to the bargaining table.
Mr. Trump told reporters after a weekend meeting at Camp David that his administration could be open to direct talks with Mr. Kim’s regime if it led to the end of the North’s nuclear ambitions. “I always believe in talking,” Mr. Trump told reporters. “If we can come up with a very peaceful and a very good solution that would be a great thing for all humanity.”
U.S. Ambassador Nikki Haley backed the president’s claims Sunday, saying a hardline strategy would bring Pyongyang to the negotiation table. She noted, however, that the administration’s demand for a denuclearized North Korea would have to be met before the idea of talks could be entertained.
Denuclearization may be a bridge too far for Pyongyang, which has yet to publicly back off the country’s nuclear ambitions, but officials from the North and Seoul did agree talks would be designed “to relieve military tensions.”
North Korea has outlined several priorities for talks, including a halt to South Korean propaganda broadcasts.
• Based in part on wire service reports.
• Carlo Muñoz can be reached at cmunoz@washingtontimes.com.
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