19 August, 2017
However, they do not appear to have been made with the intention to take military action, Moon said at a news conference to mark his first 100 days in office.
The tentative interest in diplomacy follows unusually combative threats between Trump and North Korea amid worries Pyongyang is nearing its long-sought goal of being able to send a nuclear missile to the US mainland.
South Korean Defense Minister Song Young-moo and his USA counterpart James Mattis had a phone conversation on Wednesday to discuss ways to bolster the Seoul-Washington alliance to deal with the North's nuclear and missile threats.
Emphasizing Seoul is the one that is most directly affected by North Korea's nuclear and missile issues, President Moon sternly said any sort of military action requires South Korea's consent, and underscored that another war on the peninsula is absolutely out of the question.
Daniel Pinkston, a professor of International Relations at Troy University in Seoul, said the exercises are vital practice for forces based in South Korea, especially those U.S. troops who rotate into the region on year-long deployments.
Also, U.N. Secretary-General Antonio Guterres said Wednesday that improving the situation on the Korean Peninsula required all parties "to dial down the rhetoric and to dial up diplomacy".
Moon's policy on Pyongyang came in for criticism from his rivals, particularly Hong of the Liberty Korea Party and Ahn of the People's Party, who both touted tougher lines on North Korea.
He added that Trump has "told us to develop credible viable military options and that's exactly what we're doing".
"The government will prevent a war at all cost".
'I've heard folks talking about that we're on the cusp of a nuclear war. "And we have to be maniacally focused on that", The American Prospect quoted Bannon as saying.
General Joseph Dunford (front L), chairman of the US Joint Chiefs of Staff, and his Chinese counterpart General Fang Fenghui, chief of the general staff of the Chinese People's Liberation Army, attend a signing ceremony in Beijing on August 15, 2017.
"China believes that dialogue and consultations are the only effective avenue to resolve the peninsula issue, and that military means can not become an option", China's Defence Ministry cited Fan as saying.
This was acknowledged by the U.S.'s top military officer Thursday when he said that any military action on the Korean Peninsula would be "horrific". Considering the North has in the past raise tensions to its advantage, it is clear he seeks to weaken worldwide response or crack the US-South Korea alliance. But state media reported that Kim was watching US moves before deciding whether to proceed.
In the meantime Kim is likely to continue his provocative nuclear tests, said South Korea's vice defence minister, Suh Choo-suk.
North Korea said Tuesday that leader Kim Jong Un was briefed on his military's plans to launch missiles into waters near Guam as part of an effort to create "enveloping fire" near the USA military hub in the Pacific.
"Kim Jong Un of North Korea made a very wise and well reasoned decision", Trump wrote on Twitter on Wednesday.
However, he emphasized that any solution "must begin with a nuclear freeze", and "North Korea must stop additional nuclear and missile provocations".