Anchor: Harry Harris, the nominee for U.S. ambassador to South Korea, has expressed his support for President Donald Trump's plan to suspend joint military exercises between Washington and Seoul. Meanwhile, U.S. and South Korean defense chiefs held in-depth discussions on the military exercises. 
Our Laurence Taylor has more. 

Report: The nominee for U.S. ambassador to South Korea Harry Harris has backed President Donald Trump's plan to suspend South Korea-U.S. military drills. 

At his nomination hearing before the Senate Foreign Relations Committee on Thursday, Harris said that although he previously spoke about the need to continue the military exercises, he believes the North Korea situation has changed significantly since the Washington-Pyongyang summit. 

[Sound bite: Harry Harris, U.S. Ambassador to South Korea Nominee]
“I think the whole landscape has shifted and I believe that we should give exercises, major exercises, a pause to see if Kim Jong-un in fact is serious about his part of the negotiations.” 

However, Harris did stress the need to maintain maximum pressure and sanctions against Pyongyang until the U.S. sees clear evidence that the North is acting on denuclearization. The recently retired admiral also said that North Korea remains a nuclear threat to the U.S., contradicting remarks made by Trump the previous day. 

Meanwhile, the defense chiefs of South Korea and the U.S. held telephone talks on Thursday to exchange views on the exercises, including the Ulchi Freedom Guardian drill set for August. 

The Defense Ministry in Seoul said Friday that Defense Minister Song Young-moo told his U.S. counterpart James Mattis that, should talks with North Korea proceed well, there will be a need for "flexible change" in regards to military pressure on the North.

President Moon Jae-in also said on Thursday that South Korea could consider suspending the joint military exercises if Pyongyang takes sincere measures on denuclearization and continues talks with the South and the U.S. to resolve hostile relations.

Following the president’s remarks during a National Security Council meeting, the presidential office said Friday that Seoul and Washington are in close consultation over suspending their joint military drills and will make an announcement on the matter in the near future.  
Laurence Taylor, KBS World Radio News.

[Photo : KBS News]