AP, Pyeongchang :
South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he hopes his efforts to engage rival North Korea at the Olympics will lead to better ties between Washington and Pyongyang – and help to set up talks on ridding the North of its nuclear bombs. But Moon wouldn’t answer a question from The Associated Press about what needs to happen before he’ll take North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un up on his invitation for a summit.
Moon has yet to accept the North Korean offer. He’s said the Koreas should “create an environment” so that the summit can happen.
Moon told reporters at the Olympics media center in Pyeongchang that he hopes better inter-Korean ties “will help lead to dialogue between the United States and North Korea and eventually denuclearization talks.”
Meanwhile,troops from South Korea joined their Thai and U.S counterparts on Saturday in an amphibious vehicle landing drill as part of Southeast Asia’s largest multinational military exercise.
The 300 soldiers from South Korea who joined 2,000 U.S. Marines and Thai soldiers in eastern Thailand marked the highest numbers participating from the East Asian country since it joined the Cobra Gold exercise in 2010, and comes at a time when tensions are particularly high on the Korean Peninsula.
Tensions in the Koreas primarily involve concerns over North Korea’s nuclear capability, which has led to saber-rattling declarations in Washington and Pyongyang.
“Our friends in the Republic of Korea, South Koreans, we stand by them. We work with them,” said Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. “We are allies. We continue to coordinate and keep pressure on. Hopefully through diplomatic means we would be able to come to some successful resolution of the problem.”
Some 11,075 service members from 29 countries are taking part in this year’s exercise, with Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia the seven main participants. There are 6,800 U.S. troops attending the exercise.
Ships taking part in Saturday’s exercise included the U.S. amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and the South Korean landing ship Cheon Ja Bong.
The weeklong exercise, centered around the Sattahip Royal Thai Marine Corps Base in the eastern province of Chonburi, includes humanitarian components such as evacuation drills, as well as traditional military exercises such as the amphibious landing.
The aims of the exercise are to enhance security cooperation, develop peacekeeping forces and maintain readiness for humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions.
South Korean President Moon Jae-in says he hopes his efforts to engage rival North Korea at the Olympics will lead to better ties between Washington and Pyongyang – and help to set up talks on ridding the North of its nuclear bombs. But Moon wouldn’t answer a question from The Associated Press about what needs to happen before he’ll take North Korean dictator Kim Jong Un up on his invitation for a summit.
Moon has yet to accept the North Korean offer. He’s said the Koreas should “create an environment” so that the summit can happen.
Moon told reporters at the Olympics media center in Pyeongchang that he hopes better inter-Korean ties “will help lead to dialogue between the United States and North Korea and eventually denuclearization talks.”
Meanwhile,troops from South Korea joined their Thai and U.S counterparts on Saturday in an amphibious vehicle landing drill as part of Southeast Asia’s largest multinational military exercise.
The 300 soldiers from South Korea who joined 2,000 U.S. Marines and Thai soldiers in eastern Thailand marked the highest numbers participating from the East Asian country since it joined the Cobra Gold exercise in 2010, and comes at a time when tensions are particularly high on the Korean Peninsula.
Tensions in the Koreas primarily involve concerns over North Korea’s nuclear capability, which has led to saber-rattling declarations in Washington and Pyongyang.
“Our friends in the Republic of Korea, South Koreans, we stand by them. We work with them,” said Gen. Robert Neller, commandant of the U.S. Marine Corps. “We are allies. We continue to coordinate and keep pressure on. Hopefully through diplomatic means we would be able to come to some successful resolution of the problem.”
Some 11,075 service members from 29 countries are taking part in this year’s exercise, with Thailand, the U.S., Singapore, Japan, South Korea, Indonesia and Malaysia the seven main participants. There are 6,800 U.S. troops attending the exercise.
Ships taking part in Saturday’s exercise included the U.S. amphibious assault ship USS Bonhomme Richard and the South Korean landing ship Cheon Ja Bong.
The weeklong exercise, centered around the Sattahip Royal Thai Marine Corps Base in the eastern province of Chonburi, includes humanitarian components such as evacuation drills, as well as traditional military exercises such as the amphibious landing.
The aims of the exercise are to enhance security cooperation, develop peacekeeping forces and maintain readiness for humanitarian aid and disaster relief missions.
