South Korea Backs Trump’s Bid to Revive North Korea Talks

South Korea backs U.S. President Donald Trump’s drive to revive talks with North Korea but wants to ensure that Seoul is not sidelined by Washington’s efforts, South ​Korea’s national security adviser said on Friday.

“As a party directly concerned with peace on the Korean Peninsula and as a pacemaker, we will support trust-building between North Korea and the United States and the resumption of dialogue so that President Trump’s efforts can lead to renewed US-North Korea talks,” Wi Sung-lac, the adviser, said in remarks reported by The Korea Herald.

He also stressed that Seoul would take a “multidimensional approach” to address any potential concerns that may arise if Pyongyang–Washington negotiations are rekindled.

Wi said a South Korean priority would be working with the Trump administration to enable progress to be made regarding North Korean leader Kim Jong-un’s nuclear program, as well as making efforts to establish peace on the peninsula.

He said that another key point for Seoul is “ensuring that our security posture is not weakened” as a result of the talks, and that South Korea is not “bypassed in the process.”

Trump ordered the Pentagon to scale back joint military exercises with South Korea on Aug. 16, highlighting the expense of the exercises and suggesting they sent the wrong signal to North Korea. The following day, the U.S. Department of State said that the United States remains open to talks with North Korea without preconditions, South Korean news agency Yonhap reported.

As a result of Trump’s order, the exercises ended six days earlier than scheduled, but Pyongyang said shortening the drill does not change its “provocative, aggressive nature.”

Days later, on Aug. 24, South Korea said the United States had canceled a military exercise with Seoul scheduled for September.

“The U.S. Marine Corps formally notified our forces in June that its ability to deploy forces during this year’s Ssangyong exercise would be constrained due to the situation in the Middle East,” Han Seung-jeon, a spokesman for the South Korean Marine Corps, said at a news briefing, Channel News Asia reported.

The same day, U.S. Secretary of State Marco Rubio shared details of a telephone conversation with his counterpart, South Korean Foreign Minister Cho Hyun.

During the call, the pair agreed to continue “close coordination” on North Korea’s nuclear weapons issue and to cooperate on mutually beneficial outcomes related to tariffs and investment agreements, shipbuilding, and national security cooperation.

On Friday, it was confirmed that although the U.S.–South Korean Ssangyong exercise had been scrapped, annual trilateral drills involving the two nations and Japan would go ahead next month.

The South Korean military said that the Freedom Edge exercises will take place between Sept. 7 and Sept. 11 in the waters near South Korea’s southern Jeju Island. The exercises are designed to test the trio’s readiness against nuclear and missile weapons threats from North Korea, according to Seoul.

Pyongyang has previously criticized the trilateral drills, calling them a “reckless show of strength” that demonstrates a confrontational stance against North Korea.