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Regarding the schedule of the South Korea-U.S. joint exercise scheduled for the middle of this month, President Moon Jae-in has ordered that "make a decision carefully considering various factors."
Reporter Kwon Ran reports what it means, the first mention after Kim Yo-jong, the North Korean deputy chief, was pressured to stop training.
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Defense Minister Seo Wook reported to President Moon Jae-in about the schedule of the joint South Korea-U.S. joint exercise, "Considering realistic circumstances such as the Corona situation, we are in consultation with the quarantine authorities and the US side."
After receiving the report, President Moon ordered "consultation carefully considering various things," said a key Blue House official.
President Moon's comments are the first official position since North Korean Vice-Director Kim Yo-jong pressured the suspension of joint South Korea-U.S. military exercises.
A Blue House official said, "There is no change" as to whether there is a change in the air currents in the Blue House related to the combined exercise.
A high-ranking government official also emphasized that this is a principled instruction, saying, "It means to consider not only inter-Korean relations, but also various situations such as the Corona situation and the transition of OPCON."
However, based on personal opinion, he explained, "It would be reasonable to reduce the number of personnel rather than postpone it, as the US side also came in."
The military is currently preparing for training normally, but maintains the position that "the time, scale, and method are being discussed with the U.S. side."
It is known that the ROK and the US will conduct a crisis management staff training, which is a preliminary exercise for four days from the 10th, followed by the ROK-US combined command post training from the 16th to the 26th.
Actual maneuver training in which actual troops are mobilized is not included in this exercise.