President Trump Says “Time is Not of the Essence” In Regards to North Korea Talks
It seems President Trump thinks that threats in the North Korean media to restart nuclear and ICBM testing is a bunch of hot air:
After North Korea threatened to end its moratorium on nuclear and missile tests if U.S.-South Korean military drills go forward, U.S. President Donald Trump said Wednesday that “time is not of the essence” in his administration’s negotiations with Pyongyang.
The president’s words reinforced his ever-sanguine view of his relationship with North Korea and new talks about denuclearization, brushing aside two statements issued by Pyongyang’s Foreign Ministry on Tuesday warning that talks “would be affected” by joint U.S.-South Korean summertime exercises, which it described as “rehearsals for war.”
In one statement given in a Q&A with the Korean Central News Agency, a spokesman for the North’s Foreign Ministry said the country would “formulate our decision on the opening of […] working-level talks, while keeping watch over the U.S. move hereafter.”
A second statement released by the ministry pointed out that the North’s 20-month self-imposed moratorium on nuclear and missile tests was a voluntary gesture to improve relations with Washington and not a binding promise of any sort. It said the United States was “unilaterally reneging” on Trump’s alleged vow to not conduct further joint drills that he made during the summit held with North Korean leader Kim Jong-un in the border village of Panmunjom on June 30.
The drills, known as the Dong Maeng exercises, were described by Pentagon spokesman Lt. Col. Dave Eastburn as routine combined training that had already been “adjusted” for the sake of engagement with North Korea. Eastburn said the exercises would proceed as scheduled this August between U.S. and South Korean troops and that they are intended to show the U.S. commitment to South Korea’s defense.
Joong Ang Ilbo
You can read more at the link, but the Dong Maeng exercise is what has replaced the prior UFG exercise.
