No US request for talks about ROK-US military drills: Blue House

SEOUL - The United States has made no request to the Republic of Korea for talks about the resumption of their joint annual military drills, which the two allies agreed to suspend as long as dialogue with the Democratic People's Republic of Korea (DPRK) lasts, South Korea's presidential Blue House said Wednesday.

Kim Eui-keum, spokesman for ROK President Moon Jae-in, told a press briefing that Seoul and Washington have never discussed the issue to date, saying it will be an issue to be discussed and determined by the two allies after considering progress in the denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula.

Kim said the US side made no request to the ROK for consultations on the military drill issue.

The remarks came after US Secretary of Defense James Mattis said his country had no plans to suspend any more military exercises with South Korea.

Seoul and Washington halted the summertime joint annual war games, codenamed Ulchi Freedom Guardian(UFG) originally scheduled for August, as top DPRK leader Kim Jong-un and US President Donald Trump held the first-ever DPRK-US summit in Singapore on June 12.

The UFG is a computer-simulated command post exercise, which the DPRK had denounced as a dress rehearsal for northward invasion.

Asked about the third summit between Moon and Kim, the Blue House spokesman said the upcoming summit will play a bigger role in finding a breakthrough in standoff between Pyongyang and Washington.

He noted that Trump and Kim maintained an unwavering will toward the complete denuclearization of the Korean Peninsula and the settlement of a lasting peace, which the two leaders agreed to during their summit meeting.

The leaders of the two Koreas agreed to hold their third summit in Pyongyang before the end of September. They met at the border village of Panmunjom twice in April and May.