Minister of National Defense Jeong Kyeong-Doo met with U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper in Bangkok, Thailand on November 17 and decided to postpone the ROK-US combined aerial exercises initially scheduled for this month. Secretary Esper said, "I see this as a good faith effort by the United States and the Republic of Korea to enable peace, to shape the terrain, … to facilitate a political agreement … that leads to the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula," and called for North Korea to return to the table. We highly evaluate the decision by both South Korea and the United States to bring about the denuclearization of North Korea, and we wish to see the working-level talks between North Korea and the U.S. on hold since the talks in Stockholm on October 5 resume soon.

The latest decision-making process itself can be seen as a successful consultation between North Korea and the U.S. South Korea and the U.S. had initially planned to conduct a joint aerial training of battalions and smaller units in place of Vigilant Ace this month. But on November 13, the spokesperson of the North Korean State Affairs Commission released a comment and said, "We can no longer ignore the reckless behavior of the U.S., which is aggravating the situation by pushing ahead with a joint aerial exercise using our Republic as the target." In response, Secretary Esper hinted at the possibility of adjusting training plans on his way to South Korea, and North Korea also made a positive response in a series of comments including the one by Kim Yong-chol, chairman of the Korea Asia-Pacific Peace Committee on November 14. South Korea and the U.S. discussed adjustments to the combined aerial training in the Security Consultative Meeting (SCM) on November 15, and decided to postpone the exercise after further discussions in Bangkok. The two Koreas and the U.S. directly and indirectly engaged in an "open discussion" on the ROK-US joint military exercise for four days and produced meaningful results. North Korea was able to obtain dual benefits by eliminating military threats and a financial burden with the postponement of the military exercises. Now, North Korea must respond by approaching the table for working-level discussions with the U.S. As Secretary Esper mentioned, the North should also suspend the testing of its missiles.

The two sides have kept the embers alive after much difficulty, so they should work toward progress in the working-level negotiations. If the two leaders are not to return empty-handed as they did after the Hanoi summit in February, working-level discussions are essential to support the agreement by the leaders. According to North Korea, the two countries have only fifty days until the deadline for the talks. North Korea recently sent an ultimatum claiming to demolish the South's tourist facilities in Mount Kumgang. We hope that talks between North Korea and the U.S. can set the mood for dialogue, igniting talks between the two Koreas and eventually leading to a solution to resume tourism of Mount Kumgang. The latest suspension of ROK-US combined training should be an actual turning point in the denuclearization of North Korea and in the development of inter-Korean relations.