{"id":40787,"date":"2019-05-22T21:08:21","date_gmt":"2019-05-22T21:08:21","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/uncategorized\/2019\/05\/22\/this-is-a-meme-pundits-dont-understand-korea-strategy-says-top-us-commander\/"},"modified":"2026-08-08T03:21:19","modified_gmt":"2026-08-08T03:21:19","slug":"this-is-a-meme-pundits-dont-understand-korea-strategy-says-top-us-commander","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/one.sightlinemg.com\/armytimes\/news\/your-army\/2019\/05\/22\/this-is-a-meme-pundits-dont-understand-korea-strategy-says-top-us-commander\/","title":{"rendered":"\u2018This is a meme\u2019: Pundits don\u2019t understand Korea strategy, says top US commander"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

The decision to suspend several large-scale annual military exercises on the Korean Peninsula<\/a> was a prudent one, and the pundits who say otherwise are simply repeating a meme, the top U.S. military commander on the peninsula said Wednesday.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In March the Pentagon announced it would be replacing exercises Key Resolve and Foal Eagle<\/a> with smaller training iterations tailored to specific missions.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cThis was a prudent action in support of diplomacy,” Army Gen. Robert Abrams<\/a> said at the Association of the U.S. Army\u2019s 2019 Land Forces of the Pacific Symposium. “Following those suspensions, we have worked to evolve our exercise, design and execution by tuning four dials: size, scope, volume and timing, bringing us into harmony with ongoing diplomatic efforts.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Abrams pointed to the elimination of some guard posts along the Demilitarized Zone, the expansion of a no-fly zone and the elimination of armed guards at the Joint Security Area as evidence of decreasing tensions that show the diplomatic effort is prevailing.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

\u201cNow, let me be very clear about the following: We continue to conduct combined training and exercises at echelon, from Combined Forces Command<\/a> to our combined components, all the way down to unit-level,” Abrams said. \u201cAny suggestions to the contrary \u2014 and I\u2019ve heard them all \u2014 are simply not true. This is a meme, most often repeated by theorists and pundits who simply do not know the ground truth.\u201d<\/p>\n\n\n\n

North Korea has long-sought the end of the large-scale exercises, which it views as a threat, saying that they must be suspended if the U.S. and South Korea want peace on the peninsula.<\/p>\n\n\n\n

Opting to scale back the drills is part of President Donald Trump\u2019s plan to foster a more positive relationship with North Korea.<\/p>\n\n\n\t