US, South Korea Cancel Wargames After North Korea Criticism

Esper: Cancellation is 'a gesture of goodwill'


With North Korea complaining about upcoming wargames, the US and South Korea have announced that they are effectively canceling them, though official some are calling it an indefinite delay.

Defense Secretary Mark Esper said the move is a “gesture of goodwill” to North Korea, and a show of good-faith to facilitate a denuclearization deal, though he demanded North Korea show the same goodwill by resuming denuclearization “without precondition or hesitation.”

North Korea has been wary to return to negotiations, saying they are not convinced that the US will be willing to accept an approach in which North Korea gets anything in return for giving up its nuclear program.

US officials have yet to commit to giving North Korea anything for denuclearization, but have suggested they would become wealthy in some non-specified way in the future.

Author: Jason Ditz

Jason Ditz is Senior Editor for Antiwar.com. He has 20 years of experience in foreign policy research and his work has appeared in The American Conservative, Responsible Statecraft, Forbes, Toronto Star, Minneapolis Star-Tribune, Providence Journal, Washington Times, and the Detroit Free Press.