North Korea has warned that it may cancel its upcoming talks with South Korea due to recent military exercise. The North warned that it may also cancel high profile talks with the United States that were scheduled for this coming summer.
How North Korea got here
South Korea and the United States have run joint military exercises for years. The two countries come together every year to practice various situations together and exchange information. Each year North Korea usually puts out some sort of statement condemning the exercise.
Only a few weeks ago North Korea and South Korea held historic talks in the south. Despite President Trump’s early tweets where he called the North Korean leader “little rocket man” the President agreed to meet with North Korea in the upcoming months.
This year North Korea said that the US should carefully consider the North Korea-US summit. North Korean state TV called the exercises, “provocative military disturbances with South Korea.”
Officials at the State Department said that they have received no information from Pyongyang about the status of the talks. United States officials said that no disruptions have been made to the planned exercises.
State Department spokeswoman Heather Nauert warned that everyone should be cautious because the news just came out. So far the US is not planning like the talks have been canceled.
What could the United States do
When it comes to North Korea, nothing should be a surprise. In the past, the country has made promises in order to get aid and get sanctions lifted but to only to break those promises a short time later.
The North’s newest statements are a dramatic shift from where we were only a few weeks ago. North Korea was willing to take apart missiles, shut down test sites, and even let reporters and experts in to inspect the process.
There is no guarantee that the meeting will be canceled, but if North Korea did decide to back out of the talks, it could cause the US to talk more dramatic action. Military action would most likely not be the first choice. However, the US could impose even tougher sanctions on the North.
