US Secretary of Defense James Mattis on Thursday confirmed that the United States and South Korea agreed not to conduct military exercises in the Korean Peninsula until the end of the Paralympic Games in Pyeongchang, Defense News reported.
Earlier, South Korean media reported on such an agreement between the leaders of the two countries, and later it was indirectly confirmed in the White House. The Olympic Games in Pyeongchang will be held from 9 to 25 February, the Paralympic Games from 9 to 18 March.
Commenting on the recent initiatives of the DPRK to establish relations with South Korea, Mattis noted that the decision to postpone the exercises is not their consequence.
“This is the usual prevention of conflicts, I would not give too much attention to this, because we do not know if this is an olive branch (of the world) or not.” Obviously, we must be open to everything, which gives an opportunity for a diplomatic solution,” Mattis told reporters.
On Wednesday, the leader of the DPRK, Kim Jong Un, issued an order to open a “hot line” closed between the DPRK and South Korea for a long time, said the head of the department for affairs between the two Koreas on state radio. On the afternoon of the same day, representatives of the DPRK and the Republic of Korea held the first telephone conversation on the restored communication channel. One of the topics discussed was the possible participation of North Korean athletes in the Olympics in Pyeongchang.