Difficulties in Reconciliation: Korea-U.S. Joint Military Exercises Forced to be Delayed

[Global Times Special Correspondent Mang Jiuchen in South Korea] According to reports from the Korean News Agency and South Korea's Chosun Ilbo on the 23rd, due to the failure of South Korea and the United States to reach an agreement on reducing the scale of joint military exercises, the "Freedom Shield" military exercise plan, originally scheduled to be jointly announced on the 25th, has been forced to be postponed, with a new announcement date yet to be determined. Previously, South Korea and the United States had exposed differences on issues such as the jurisdiction over the Korean Demilitarized Zone and joint military exercises involving South Korea, the United States, and Japan.

Reports cite sources from the South Korean government stating that the South Korean Joint Chiefs of Staff and the U.S. Forces Korea originally planned to jointly announce that the "Freedom Shield" joint military exercise would take place from March 9 to 19. However, the South Korean government recently requested a significant reduction in the South Korea-U.S. joint field maneuver training plan, which the U.S. side found difficult to accommodate, leading to the postponement of the joint exercise announcement.

The report states that the South Korean government believes it is necessary to take measures such as reducing military exercises to ease military tensions in order to promote the construction of a "year of peaceful coexistence between South and North Korea." However, the U.S. Forces Korea expressed confusion over the sudden request to modify the previously established training plan, stating that the participating troops and equipment had already begun to be dispatched from the U.S. mainland and other locations, with some already deployed within South Korea.

Meanwhile, South Korean media also revealed that in response to the U.S. proposal for a joint air exercise involving South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, the South Korean side had suggested "excluding Japan." According to South Korean media reports, the U.S. proposed holding a trilateral exercise on the 15th of last month, but the schedule coincided with the South Korean Lunar New Year holiday (February 15 to 18) and was close to Japan's so-called "Takeshima Day" (February 22, which South Korea refers to as "Dokdo"). A spokesperson from the South Korean Ministry of National Defense stated on the 21st that after receiving the U.S. proposal, the South Korean side suggested holding the exercise earlier, but this was not accepted by the U.S. side.

The source also stated that the South Korean side proposed that if the exercise could only be held on the originally scheduled date, it should be changed to a South Korea-U.S. bilateral exercise. The U.S. then responded, "Then we (the U.S. and Japan) can just do it ourselves." Reports indicate that the U.S. military conducted joint air exercises with the Japan Air Self-Defense Force on the 16th and 18th of this month, utilizing four B-52 bombers in the Sea of Japan and the East China Sea, while the U.S. Forces Korea also conducted separate training in the Yellow Sea on the 18th.

However, the South Korean Ministry of National Defense stated on the 23rd that the U.S.-Japan military training is unrelated to the trilateral exercise involving South Korea, the U.S., and Japan, and that the South Korean Ministry of National Defense will steadily advance trilateral security cooperation based on the solid cooperative relationship among South Korea, the U.S., and Japan. 

Additionally, according to reports from the Korean News Agency, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs issued a statement on the 22nd in the name of its spokesperson, strongly protesting Japan's holding of the so-called "Takeshima Day" activities and the attendance of high-ranking government officials. The statement sternly urged Japan to immediately cease related activities and stated that "Dokdo" is an inherent territory of South Korea in terms of history, geography, and international law, and that the Japanese government should immediately stop its unjust claims over "Dokdo" and face history with a humble attitude. On the same day, the South Korean Ministry of Foreign Affairs also summoned the Deputy Chief of Mission of the Japanese Embassy in South Korea, Matsuo Hiroyuki, to express its strong protest.