US, South Korea Delayed Joint Military Drill Announcement Until After Olympics

The U.S. and South Korea will lay out their plans for joint military drills before April, according to South Korea’s Ministry of National Defense, Tuesday. The drills were postponed ahead of the Olympics and Paralympics.

The two countries, which regularly conduct joint military exercises, decided to postpone them during the Olympics — before talks between North and South Korea began. Those talks eventually led to North Korea’s participation in the Winter Olympics, in Pyeongchang, South Korea — a move widely seen as a diplomatic breakthrough.

South Korea’s Defense Minister Song Young-moo told the country’s parliament Tuesday that he and U.S. Defense Secretary Jim Mattis would announce their plans after the Paralympics end March 18 and before April.

“The exercise was postponed according to the spirit of the Olympics,” said Song. “We have agreed to uphold the basis until after the Paralympics...and not to confirm nor deny anything regarding what we would do after that until we announce it.”

The two militaries typically hold two operations in March and April called Key Resolve and Foal Eagle, according to Reuters. North Korea has long protested the drills which it sees as an act of aggression, but Song said that postponing the drills did not directly lead to inter-Korean talks earlier this year.

North Korean state media published several editorials Monday railing against the U.S. and joint drills.

“The [President Donald] Trump group's racket for resuming the war exercises is a wild act of ruthlessly trampling even a small sprout of peace that has been now seen on the Korean peninsula, and it is a provocative act of chilling the active efforts of [North Korea] and enthusiasm of the international community to defuse tension and create a peaceful environment,” read a release from North Korea’s state-media wing the Korean Central News Agency.

The Olympics have been a detente for the two Koreas, both of whom have even suggested that they co-host 2021 Asian Winter Games. Tensions with North Korea reached a peak last year as the country repeatedly conducted provocative ballistic missile tests, and detonated their sixth and largest nuclear weapon to date.

North Korea has won positive press for their Olympic diplomatic maneuvers. The country sent their leader Kim Jong Un’s sister, Kim Yo Jong, the games. She invited South Korean President Moon Jae-in to Pyongyang for talks.

Secretary of State Rex Tillerson in an interview with “60 Minutes” Sunday said that despite the current cooling, that the U.S. will continue to keep pressure on the country.

“We're using large sticks. And that is what they need to understand. This pressure campaign is putting...is having its bite on North Korea, its revenue streams. It's having a bite on its military programs,” said Tillerson.