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Unification minister says adjustments to South-U.S. drills 'inevitable' for possible North-U.S. summit

Published: 09 Nov. 2025, 14:45

YOON SO-YEON
[email protected]

Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young sits down for a talk with the delegation from the Stockholm International Peace Research Institute (SIPRI) at the government complex in central Seoul on Nov. 5. [YONHAP]

Adjustments to the South Korea-U.S. joint military exercises would be "inevitable" if a U.S.-North Korea summit is to take place in the first half of next year," South Korea's Unification Minister Chung Dong-young said Saturday.

"It is a very sensitive issue, but we cannot move toward a North Korea-U.S. summit while continuing joint South Korea-U.S. military drills," Chung told reporters after a lecture at the 2025 Youth Festa, a nationwide touring talk event for young people held in southern Seoul.

According to Chung, North Korean leader Kim Jong-un has been "signaling" the United States to change its hostile policies — the travel ban for U.S. citizens in North Korea, for instance — toward North Korea, should the United States wish to push for a summit between the two leaders.

Chung also emphasized during the lecture that arranging a meeting between U.S. President Donald Trump and Kim is a prerequisite for resuming long-stalled inter-Korean relations.

He expressed regret that the two leaders did not meet on the sidelines of the Asia-Pacific Economic Cooperation (APEC) summit in the southeastern city of Gyeongju on Oct. 31 and Nov. 1, saying, "It seems Pyongyang miscalculated."

Trump had repeatedly expressed his willingness to meet Kim ahead of his visit to Seoul late last month, but Pyongyang did not respond to the overture.

Minister of Unification Chung Dong-young speaks at a lecture at the 2025 Youth Festa, a nationwide touring talk event for young people held in southern Seoul, on Nov. 8. [YONHAP]

Chung said the period around Trump's planned visit to Beijing in April would be a "critical moment" and urged the Seoul government to work diligently over the next five months — from now through March — to help realize a North Korea-U.S. summit.

The news comes after South Korea's National Intelligence Service reported last Tuesday that Kim has been preparing measures to meet with Trump, although the meeting fell through.

"Kim Jong-un is willing to talk, and he will begin dialogues with the United States when [conditions] are met," the agency told lawmakers during a parliamentary audit held on Tuesday. "They are likely to push for a North-U.S. summit after South Korea's joint military training with the United States in March, while also preparing for its own parade."

BY YOON SO-YEON, YONHAP [[email protected]]