South Korean officials are reacting carefully to the expected suspension of large U.S.-South. An announcement could come this week to suspend the major joint military exercises, South Korea’s Yonhap news agency reports. Those exercises usually involve troops, warplanes, ships and other military weapons from U.S. bases around the world. Yonhap said, however, that some joint training would continue.

On Monday, the South Korean defense minister said the issue is still being discussed. A Defense Ministry spokesperson said, “We are still discussing about it. Nothing has yet been decided, and it is still in discussion.”

On Sunday, U.S. President Donald Trump tweeted that he wanted to cancel what he called the U.S.-South Korean “war games.” The suspension would continue while the U.S. and North Korea negotiate an end to the North’s nuclear program.

The South Korean government and U.S. military officials were not told before Trump’s announcement. He made the statement after meeting with North Korean leader Kim Jong Un in Singapore on June 12.

However, South Korean President Moon Jae-in asked for cooperation on the issue. Moon said there was a need to be “flexible” on possibly easing military pressure on North Korea if the denuclearization process continues.

Aliqismet BADALOV,

“Khalq qazeti”