AP, Hanoi :
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ended an Asia tour Thursday with the same trio of troubles on the Korean peninsula that he found on arrival last week. Together they pose risks to U.S. national security and to the future of Washington’s alliance with South Korea.
The toughest of these problems, and arguably the most consequential, is North Korea’s refusal to restart negotiations with Washington on eliminating its nuclear weapons.
Esper has no direct role in nuclear diplomacy, but he had hoped that his decision to postpone a military flying exercise with South Korea – which North Korea had criticized as provocative -would help nudge the North back to the negotiating table.
In announcing the postponement in the Thai capital last weekend, Esper called it an “act of goodwill” that would not degrade the combat readiness of U.S. and South Korean air forces. But the North quickly rejected the gesture, insisting the United States end its “hostile policy,” which it sees as the root cause of the tensions that prompted the North to go nuclear in the first place.
Esper told reporters Thursday in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, that he was disappointed by the North’s negative response.
U.S. Defense Secretary Mark Esper ended an Asia tour Thursday with the same trio of troubles on the Korean peninsula that he found on arrival last week. Together they pose risks to U.S. national security and to the future of Washington’s alliance with South Korea.
The toughest of these problems, and arguably the most consequential, is North Korea’s refusal to restart negotiations with Washington on eliminating its nuclear weapons.
Esper has no direct role in nuclear diplomacy, but he had hoped that his decision to postpone a military flying exercise with South Korea – which North Korea had criticized as provocative -would help nudge the North back to the negotiating table.
In announcing the postponement in the Thai capital last weekend, Esper called it an “act of goodwill” that would not degrade the combat readiness of U.S. and South Korean air forces. But the North quickly rejected the gesture, insisting the United States end its “hostile policy,” which it sees as the root cause of the tensions that prompted the North to go nuclear in the first place.
Esper told reporters Thursday in Vietnam’s capital, Hanoi, that he was disappointed by the North’s negative response.
