Unification Minister Chung Dong-young stated, "U.S. President Donald Trump's directive to scale back the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises stems from deep consideration regarding peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula, and the Ministry of Unification empathizes with this decision by President Trump."

Minister Chung made the remarks during the plenary session of the National Assembly's Foreign Affairs and Unification Committee today (August 19), after obtaining separate floor time from Chairperson Song Seok-jun following the final morning inquiry session.

"The shared goal of the South Korea-U.S. alliance is peace and stability on the Korean Peninsula," Chung said, evaluating President Trump's comment that the move "makes the situation much safer" as "the core point regarding the directive to scale back joint exercises."

He added, "We expect that this [scaling back of joint exercises] will lead to meaningful U.S.-North Korea dialogue and further expand into the improvement of inter-Korean relations."

Earlier in the meeting, regarding prospects for the resumption of U.S.-North Korea dialogue, Minister Chung analyzed that "North Korea has repeatedly stated that the core of the hostile policy is the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises," and that President Trump's directive to drastically scale down the drills has created a possibility for dialogue to resume.

North Korean leader Kim Jong Un expressed conditional willingness to improve relations with the U.S. during the 9th Workers' Party Congress last February, stating regarding U.S. policy, "If the United States respects our country's current status specified in the constitution of the Democratic People's Republic of Korea [North Korea's official name] and withdraws its hostile policy toward North Korea, we have no reason not to get along well with the United States."

During the afternoon inquiry session as well, Minister Chung expressed expectations, stating, "President Trump's directive to scale back joint exercises can create room [for diplomacy]."

He emphasized, "President Trump opened the PyeongChang [Winter] Olympic truce by suspending military exercises during his first term, and as there were consequences such as the severance of U.S.-North Korea relations when he failed to keep the promise in August 2019, President Trump has thrown down a high-stakes gamble this time in his own way, and our government must actively utilize this opportunity."

He then mentioned upcoming summit diplomacy schedules for the year, including President Lee Jae-myung's UN speech and the U.S.-China summit next month, and the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in Shenzhen, China, in November. "As North Korea's movement toward becoming a normal state is accelerating, we should not just stand by and watch, but make active efforts," he stressed.

In response to a question regarding the proposal to appoint a special envoy for peace on the Korean Peninsula, which he suggested to President Lee during last year's work report, he said, "It has now moved into the realm of the appointing authority's judgment."

Meanwhile, when asked by People Power Party lawmaker Park Choong-kwon whether North Korea is the principal enemy, Minister Chung replied, "It is a threat," adding that inter-agency coordination within the government will continue to revise the Defense White Paper, which defines North Korea as an enemy.

(Photo: Yonhap News)